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BUBBLES FROM BRUNNEN. 



IIEE II GEEIANY 



OR A VISIT TO THE SPRINGS OF GERMANY BY "AN OLD MAN" IN 
SEARCH OF HEALTH. 



BY SIR FRANCIS, HEAD, 

LATE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CANADA. 



NEW- YORK : 

LEAVITT, TROW & CO., 191 BROADWAY. 

1848. 






Gtft 
W. L. 8boem»kar 



PREFACE, 



The writer of this trifling Volume was suddenly sentenced, 
m the cold evening of his life, to drink the mineral waters 
of one of the bubbling springs, or brunnen, of Nassau. 
In his own opinion, his constitution was not worth so 
troublesome a repair ; but, being outvoted, he bowed and 
departed. 

On reaching the point of his destination, he found not 
only water-bibbing — bathing — and ambulation to be the 
orders of the aay. but it was moreover insisted upon, that 
the mind was to be rek^xed inversely as the body was to 
be strengthened. Durmg this severe regimen, he was 
driven to amuse himself in his old age by blowing, as he 
tottled about, a few Uterary Bubbles. His hasty sketches 
of whatever chanced for the moment to please either his 
eyes, or his mind, were only made — because he had nothing 
else in the world to do ; and he now offers them to that vast 
and highly respectable class of people who read from ex- 
actly the self-same motive. 

The critic must, of course, declare this production to be 
vain — empty — light — hollow — superficial .... but it is the' 
nature of Bubbles to be so. 

" The earth hath bubbles, as the water has. 
And these are of them." 

Macbeth, Act I , ^^Isfine 3 



CONTENTS. 



PASS 

THE VOYAGE ' 1 

THE JOURIVEY 11 

THE REVEILLE 24 

THE BATH 34 

THE DIIVNER 41 

THE PROMEIS-ADE . 48 

THE SCHWEIX-GENERAL 57 

THE LUTHER AK CHAPEL 63 

THE NEW SCHOOL 68 

THE OLD PROTESTANT CHURCH 75 

THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE 82 

THE HARVEST 86 

THE SUNSET «*.... o 91 

THE CROSS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM • 97 

THE RENEGADE. 108 

SCHLANGENB AD ; OR, THE SERPENTS* BATH 119 

NIEDER BELTERS ♦ 152 

THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH 156 

JOURNEY TO MAINZ 178 

EXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD •...•.••• i «•• « 197 

WIESBADEN ♦ , * • • • • . 208 



LIFE IN GERMANY. 



THE VOYAGE. 

By the time I reached the Custom-house Stairs, the paddles of the 
Rotterdam steamboat were actually in motion, and I had scarcely 
hurried across a plank, when I heard it fall splash into the muddy- 
water which separated me farther and farther from the wharf. 
Still later than myself, passengers were now seen chasing the 
vessel in boats, and there was a confusion on deck, which I gladly 
availed myself of, by securing, close to the helmsman, a corner, 
where, muffled in the ample folds of an old boat-cloak, I felt 
I might quietly enjoy an incognito ; for, as the sole object of my 
expedition was to do myself as much good and as little harm as 
possible, I considered it would be a pity to wear out my constitu- 
tion by any travelling exclamations in the Thames. 

The hatches being now opened, the huge pile of trunks, black 
portmanteaus, and gaudy carpet-bags, which had threatened at 
first to obstruct my prospect, was rapidly stowed away ; and, as 
the vessel, hissing and smoking, glided, or rather scuffled, by 
Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, &c., a very motley group of 
fellow-passengers were all occupied in making remarks of more 
or less importance. Some justly prided themselves on being able 
to read aloud inscriptions on shore, which others had declared, 
from their immense distance, to be illegible ; — some, bending 
forward, modestly asked for information ; some, standing particu- 
larly upright, pompously imparted it. At times, wondering eyes, 
both male and female, were seen radiating in all directions ; then 
al 1 were concentrated on an approaching sister steamboat, which, 
steering an opposite course, soon rapidly passed us; the gilt 
figure at her head, the splashing of the paddles, and the name 
2 



BUBBLES. 



written over her stern, occasioning observations which burst into 
existence nearly as simultaneously as the thunder and lightning 
of heaven ; — handkerchiefs were waved, and bipeds of both sexes 
seemed to be delighted, save and except one mild, gloomy, inquisi- 
tive little man, who went bleating like a lamb from one fellow- 
passenger to another, without getting even from me any answer to 
this harmless question, "- whether we had or had not passed yet 
the men han^ina in chains ?" 

As soon as we got below Gravesend, the small volume of life, 
which, with feelings of good fellowship to all men, I had thus been 
calmly reviewing, began to assume a graver tone ; and, as page 
after page presented itself to my notice, I observed that notes of 
interrogation and marks of admiration were types not so often to 
be met with as the comma, the colon . . . and, above all, . . . the 
full stop. 

The wind, as it freshened with the sun, seemed to check all 
exuberance of fancy ; and, as the puny river- w^ave rose, conver- 
sation around me lulled and lulled into a dead calm. A few 
people, particularly some ladies, suddenly at last broke silence, 
giving utterance to a mass of heavy matter-of-fact ejaculation, 
directed rather to fishes than to men. Certain colors in the pic- 
ture now began rapidly to alter — the red rose gradually looked 
like the lily — brown skin changed itself into dirty yellow, and I 
observed two heavy cheeks of warm, comfortable, fat flesh gra- 
dually assume the appearance of cold wrinkled tallow. 

Off Margate, a sort of hole-and-corner system very soon began 
to prevail, and one human being after another, slowly descending 
heels foremost, vanished from deck into a substratum, or infernal 
region, where there was moaning and groaning, and gnashing of 
teeth ; and, as head after head thus solemnly sank from my view, 
I gradually threw aside the folds of my aegis, until, finding my- 
self alone, I hailed and inhaled with pleasure the cool fresh 
breeze which had thus caused me to be left, as I wished to be, by 
myself. 

The gale now delightfully increased — (ages ago I had been too 
often exposed to it to suffer from its effect) ; — and, as wave after 
wave became tipped with white, there flitted before my mind a 
hundred recollections chasing one another, which I never thought 



THE VOYAGE. 



to have re-enjoyed ; — occasionally they were interrupted by the 
salt spray, and as it dashed into my face, I felt my lank grizzled 
eyebrows curl themselves up as if they wished me once again to 
view the world in the lovely prismatic colors of " Auld lang 
syne." Already was my cure half eifected, and the soot of Lon- 
don, being thus washed from my brow, I felt a re-animation of 
mind and a vigor of fram.e which made me long for the moment 
v»^hen, like the sun bursting from behind a cloud, I might cast 
aside my shadowy mantle ; however, I never moved from my 
nook, until the darkness of night at last encouraging me, without 
fear of observation, to walk the deck, " I paced along upon the 
giddy footing of the hatches," till, tired of these vibrations, I stood 
for a few moments at the gangway. 

There was no moon — a star only here and there was to be 
seen ; yet, as the fire-propelled vessel cut her way, the paddles, 
by shivering in succession each v/ave to atoms, produced a phos- 
phoric sparkling, resembling immense lanthorns at her side ; and 
while these beacons distinctly proclaimed where the vessel actu- 
ally was, a pale shining stream of light issued from her keel, 
which, for a ship's length or two, told fainter and fainter where 
she had heen. 

The ideas which rush into the mind, on contemplating by night, 
out of sight of land, the sea, are as dark, as mysterious, as unfa- 
thomable, and as indescribable, as the vast ocean itself. One 
sees but little — yet that little, caught here and there, so much re- 
sembles some of the attributes of the Great Power which created 
us, that the mind, trembling under the immensity of the concep- 
tions it engenders, is lost in feelings which human beings cannot 
impart to each other. In the hurricane which one meets with in 
southern latitudes, most of us probably have looked in vain for the 
waves which have been described to be '^mountain-high;" but 
though the outline has been exaggerated, is there not a terror in 
the filling in of the picture which no human artist can delineate ? 
and in the raging of the tempest — in the darkness which the light- 
ning makes visible — who is there among us that has not fancied 
he has caught a shadow of the wrath, and a momentary glimmer- 
ing of the mercy, of the Almighty ? 

Impressed with these hackneyed feelings, I slowly returned to 



BUBBLES. 



my nook, and all being obscure, except just the red, rough coun« 
tenance of the helmsman, feebly illuminated by the light in the 
binnacle, I laid myself down, and sometimes nodding a little, and 
sometimes dozing, I enjoyed for many hours a sort of half-sleep, 
of which I stood in no little need. 

As soon as we had crossed the Brill, the vessel being at once 
in smooth water, the passengers successively emerged from their 
graves below, until, in a couple of hours, their ghastly counte- 
nances all were on deck. 

A bell, as if in hysterics, now rung most violently, as a signal 
to the town of Rotterdam. The word of command, " stop her !" 
was loudly vociferated by a bluff, short. Dirk Hatteraick-looking 
pilot, who had come on board off the Brill. " Stop her !" was 
just heard faintly echoed from below, by the invisible, exhausted 
sallow being, who had had, during the voyage, charge of the 
engine. The paddles, in obedience to the mandate, ceased — then 
gave two turns — ceased, — turned once again — paused, — gave one 
last struggle, when, our voyage being over, the vessel's side 
slightly bumped against the pier. 

With a noise like one of Congreve's rockets, the now useless 
steam was immediately exploded by the pale being below ; and, 
in a few seconds, half the passengers were seen on shore, hurry- 
ing in different directions about a town full of canals and spirit- 
shops. 

" Compared with Greece and Italy — Holland is but a platter- 
faced, cold gin-and-water country after all !" said I to myself as 
I entered the great gate of the Hotel des Pays Bas ; " and a heavy, 
barge-built, web-footed race are its inhabitants," I added, as 
I passed a huge amphibious wench on the stairs, who, with her 
stern towards me, was sluicing the windows with water : " how- 
ever, there is fresh air, and that, with solitude, is all I here 
desire !" This frail sentimental sentence was hardly concluded, 
when a Dutch waiter (whose figure I will not misrepresent by 
calling him "• garden") popped a long carte, or bill of fare, into 
my hands, which severely reproved me for having many other 
wants besides those so simply expressed in my soliloquy. 

As I did not feel equal to appearing in public, I had dinner apart 
in my own room ; and, as soon as I came to that part of the cere- 



THE VOYAGE. 



mony called dessert, I gradually raised my eyes from the field of 
battle, until, leaning backwards in my chair to ruminate, I could 
not help first admiring, for a few moments, the height and immense 
size of an apartment, in which there seemed to be elbow-room 
for a giant. 

Close before the window was the great river upon whose glassy 
surface I had often and often been a traveller ; and, flowing be- 
neath me, it occurred to me, as I sipped my wine, that in its 
transit, or course of existence, it had attained at Rotterdam, as 
nearly as possible, the same period in its life as my own. Its 
birth, its froward infancy, and its wayward youth, were remote 
distances to which even fancy could now scarcely re- transport us. 
In its full vigor, the Rhine had been doomed turbulently to strug- 
gle with difficulties and obstructions which had seemed almost 
capable of arresting it in its course ; and if there was now nothing 
left in its existence worth admiring — if its best scenery had 
vanished — if its boundaries had become fiat and its banks insipid, 
still there was an expansion in its broader surface, and a deep 
settled stillness in its course, which seemed to offer tran- 
quillity instead of ecstasy, and perfect contentment instead of 
imperfect joy. I felt that in the whole course of the river there 
was no part of it I desired to exchange for the water slowly 
flowing before me ; and though it must very shortly, I knew, be 
lost in the ocean, that great emblem of eternity, yet in every yard 
of its existence that fate had been foretold to it. 

Not feeling disposed again so immediately to endure the con- 
finement of a vessel, I walked out, and succeeded in hiring a car- 
riage, which, in two days, took me to Cologne, and the following 
morning I embarked, at six o^clock, in another steamboat, which 
was to reach Coblenz in eleven hours. 

As everybody, now-a-days, has been up the Rhine, I will only 
say; that I started in a fog, and, for a couple of hours, was very 
coolly enveloped in it. My compagnons de voyage were tri-color- 
ed — Dutch, German, and French ; and, excepting always myself, 
there was nothing English — nothing, at least, but a board, which 
sufhciently explained the hungry, insatiable inquisitiveness of our 
travellers. The black speechless thing hung near the tiller, and 



BUBBLES. 



upon it there was painted, in white letters, the following sentence, 
which I copied literatim : — 

" Enfering any conversation with the Steersner and 
Pilotes is desired to be forborn." 

On account of the fog, we could see nothing, yet, once or twice, 
we steered towards the tinkling invitation of a bell ; stopped for a 
moment — ^took in passengers, and proceeded. The manner in 
which these Rhine steam-vessels receive and deliver passengers, 
carriages, and horses, is most admirable ; at each little village, 
the birth of a new traveller, or the death or departure of an old 
one, does not detain the vessel ten seconds ; but the little ceremony- 
being over, on it instantly proceeds, worming and winding its 
way towards its destination. 

Formerly, and until lately, a few barges, towed by horses, were 
occasionally seen toiling against the torrent of the Rhine, while 
immense rafts of timber, curiously connected together, floated 
indolently downwards to their market ; in history, therefore, this 
uncommercial river was known principally for its violence, its 
difficulties, and its dangers. Excepting to the painter, its points 
most distinguished were those where armies had succeeded in 
crossing, or where soldiers had perished in vainly attempting to 
do so ; but the power of steam, bringing its real character into 
existence, has lately developed peaceful properties which it was 
not known to have possessed. The stream which once relent- 
lessly destroyed mankind, now gives to thousands their bread ; — 
that which once separated nations, now brings them together ; — 
national prejudices, which, it was once impiously argued, this 
river was wisely intended to maintain, are, by its waters, now 
softened and decomposed: in short, the Rhine affords another 
proof that there is nothing really barren in creation but man's 
conceptions — nothing defective but his own judgment, and that 
what he looked upon as a barrier in Europe, was created to become 
one of the great pav6s of the world. 

As the vessel proceeded towards Coblenz, it continually paused 
in its faijy course, apparently to barter and traffic in the prison- 
ers it contained — sometuTies stopping off one little village, it ex- 



THE VOYAGE. 



changed an infirm old man for two country girls ; and then, as if 
laughing at its bargain, gaily proceeding, it paused before another 
picturesque hamlet, to give three Prussian soldiers of the 36th 
regiment for a husband, a mother, and a child ; once it delivered 
an old woman, and got nothing ; — -then, luckily, it received two 
carriages for a horse, and next it stopped a second to take up a 
tail, thin, itinerant poet, who, as soon as he had collected from 
every passenger a sm.all contribution, for having recited two or 
three little pieces, v/as dropped at the next village, ready to board 
the steam vessel coming down from Mainz. 

In one -of these cartels, or exchanges of prisoners, we received 

on board Sir and Lady , a young fashionable English 

couple, who having had occasion, a fortnight before, to go toge- 
ther to St. George's Church, had (like dogs suffering from hydro- 
phobia or tin canisters) been running straight forwards ever since. 
As hard as they could drive, they had posted to Dover — hurried 
, across to Calais — thence to Brussels — -snapped a glance at the 
ripe corn waving on the field of Waterloo — stared at the relics 
of that great Saint, old Cliarlemagne, on the high altar of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, and at last sought for rest and connubial refuge at 
Coin ; but the celebrated water of that town, having in its 
manufacture evidently abstracted all perfume from the atmosphere, 
they could not endure the dirt and smeli of the place, and there- 
fore had proceeded by land towards Cobienz ; but, as they were 
changing horses at a small village, seeing our steam-boat in view, 
they ordered a party of peasants to draw their carriage to the 
banks of the river, and as soon as our vessel, which came smok- 
ing alongside, began to hiss, they, their rosy, fiesh-colored French 
maid, their dark, choeolate-colored chariot, and their brown, ill- 
looking Italian courier, came on board. 

As soon as this young London couple lightly stepped on deck, 
i saw, at one glance, that without at all priding themselves on 
their abilities, they fancied, and indeed justly fancied, that they 
belonged to that class of society which, in England, so modestly 
calls itself — good. That it vv^as not healthy society — that its vic- 
tims were exposed to late hours, crowded rooms, and impure air, 
was evident enouo^h from the contrast which existed between their 
eoniplexions, and that of their healthy country attendant ; how. 



BUBiiLES. 



ever, they seemed not only to be perfectly satisfied with them- 
selves, and the clique which they had left behind them, but to 
have a distaste for everything else they saw. Towards some 
German ladies, who had slightly bowed to them as they passed, 
they looked with a vacant haughty stare, as if they conceived 
there must be some mistake, and as if, at all events, it would be 
necessary to keep such people off. Yet, after all, there was no 
great harm in these two young persons : that, in the countries 
which they were about to visit, they would be fitted only for each 
other, was sadly evident ; however, on the other hand, it was also 
evidently their wish not to extend their acquaintance. Their 
heads were lanterns, illuminated with no more brains than barely 
sufficient to light them on their way ; and so, like the babes in 
the wood, they sat together, hand-in-hand, regardless of every- 
thing in creation but themselves. 

For running their carriage down to the shore, the brown confi- 
dential courier, whose maxim was, of course, to pay little and 
charge much, offered the gang of peasants some kreuzers, which 
amounted, in English currency, to about sixpence. This they 
refused, and the captain of the party, while arguing with the flint- 
skinning courier, was actually carried off by our steamboat, 
which, like time and tide, waited for no man. The poor fellow, 
finding that the Italian was immoveable, came aft to the elegant 
English couple, who were still leaning towards each other like the 
Siamese boys. He pleaded his case, stated his services, declared 
his poverty, and, in a manly voice, prayed for redress. The 
dandy listened — looked at his boots, which were evidently pinch- 
ing him, — listened — passed four white fingers through the curls 
of his jet-black hair — ^showed the point of a pink tongue gently 
playing with a front tooth, and when the vulgar story was at an 
end, without moving a muscle in his countenance, in a sickly 

tone of voice, he pronounced his verdict as follows 

'' Allez r 

The creditor tried again, but the debtor sat as silent and as in- 
animate as a corpse. However, all this time the steamboat 
dragging the poor peasant out of his way, he protested in a few 
angry exclamations against the injustice with which he had been 
treated (a sentiment I was very sorry to hear more than once 



THE VOYAGE. 



mildly whispered by many a quiet-looking German), and descend- 
ing the vessel's side into a small boat, which had just brought us 
a new captive, he landed at a village from which he had about 
eight miles to walk, to join his comrades. 

It is with no satirical feeling that I have related this little occur- 
rence. To hurt the feelings of '^ gay beings born to flutter but a 
day " — to break such a pair of young, flimsy butterflies upon the 
wheel, aflbrds me neither amusement nor delight ; but the every- 
day occurrence of English travellers committing our well-earned 
national character for justice and liberality to the base, slave- 
driving hand of a courier, is a practice which, as well as the 
bad taste of acting the part of a London dandy on the great the- 
atre of Europe, ought to be checked. 

As we proceeded up the Rhine, there issued from one of the 
old romantic castles we were passing a party of young English 
lads, whose appearance (as soon as they came on board), did 
ample justice to their country ; and, comparing them, while they 
walked the deck, with the rest of their fellow-prisoners, I could 
not help more than once fancying that I saw a determination in 
their step, a latent character in their attitudes, and a vigor in their 
young frames, which being interpreted, said — 

" We dare do all that doth become a man, 
He v/ho dares more — is none !" 

Besides these young collegians, an English gentleman came on 
board, who appeared quite delighted to join their party. He was 
a stout man, of about fifty, tall, well-dressed, evidently wealthy, 
and as ruddy as our mild wholesome air could make him. Not 
only had he a high color, but there was a net-work of red veins 
in his cheeks, which seemed as if not even death could drive it 
away : his face shone from excessive cleanliness, and though his 
nose certainly was not long, there was a sort of round bull-dog 
honesty in his face, which it was quite delightful to gaze upon. I 
overheard this good man inform his countrymen, who had sur- 
rounded him in a group, that he had never before been out of 
England — and that, to tell the truth, he never wished to quit it 
again ! '' It's surely beautiful scenery !" observed one of his au- 



10 BUBBLES. 



ditors, pointing to the outline of a ruin which, with the rock upon 
which it stood, seemed flying away behind us. " Yes, yes !" re- 
plied the florid traveller. ^^ But, Sir ! it's the dirtiness of the peo- 
ple I complain of. Their cookery is dirty — they are dirty in their 
persons — dirty in their habits — that shocking trick of smoking 
(pointing to a fat German who was enjoying this pleasure close 
by his side, and who I rather suspect perfectly understood Eng- 
lish) is dirty — depend upon it, they are what w^e should call. Sir, 
a very dirty race!" "Do you speak the language ?" said one 
of the young listeners with a smile which was very awkwardly 
repressed. '- Oh, no !" replied the well-fed gentleman, laughing 
good-naturedly ; ''I know nothing of their language. I pay for 
all I eat, and I find, by paying, I can get anything I want. 
* Mangez ! cliangez P is quite foreign language enough. Sir, for 
wze;" and having to the first word suited his action, by pointing 
with his fore-finger to his mouth, and to explain the second, hav- 
ing rubbed his thumb against the self-same finger, as if it were 
counting out money, he joined the roar of laughter which his two 
French words had caused, and then very good-naturedly paced 
the deck by himself. 

The jagged spires of Coblenz now came in sight, and every 
Englishman walked to the head of the vessel to see them, while 
several of the inhabitants of the city, with less curiosity, occupied 
themselves in leisurely getting together their luggage. For a 
moment, as we glided by the Moselle on our right, we looked up 
the course of that lovely river, which here delivers up its waters 
to the Rhine ; in a few minutes the bell on board rang, and con- 
tinued to ring, until we found ourselves firmly moored to the pier 
of Coblenz. Most of the passengers went into the town. I, how- 
ever, crossing the bridge of boats, took up my quarters at the 
Cheval Blanc, a large hotel, standing immediately beneath that 
towering rock so magnificently crowned by the celebrated fortress 
of Ehrenbreitstein. 



THE JOUENEY. n 



THE JOURNEY. 



The next day, starting from Coblenz w^hile tlie morning air was 
'Still pure and fresh, 1 bade adieu to the picturesque river behind 
me, and travelling on a capital macadamized road whi<5h cuts 
across the du-chy of Nassau from Coblenz to Mainz, I immediately 
began to ascend the mountains, whi^h on all sides were beauti- 
fully covered with wood. In about two hours, descending into a 
narrow valle}^, I passed through Bad-Ems, a small village, whi<jh 
<;omposed of hovels for its inhabitants, and, comparatively speak- 
ing, palaces for its guests, is pleasantly enough situated on the 
bank of a stream ©f water (the Lahn), imprisoned on every «ide 
by mountains which I should think very few of its visitors would 
be disposed to scale ; and, from the little I saw of this place, I 
must own I felt no great disposition to remain in it. Its outline, 
though much admired, gives a cramped, contracted pieture of the 
-resources and amusements of the place, and as I drove through 
it (my postilion, with huge orange-colored worsted tassels at his 
back, proudly playing a discordant voluntary on his horn), I par- 
ticularly remarked som.e stiff, formal little walks, up and down 
which many well-dressed strangers were slowly promenading ; 
-but the truth is, tbat Ems is a regular, feshionable watering- 
place. 

Many people, I fully admit, go tliere to drink tbe waters only 
^because they are salutary, but a very great many more visit it 
from different motives ; and it is sad, as well as odd enough, that 
joung ladies who are in a consumption, and old ladies who have 
a number of gaudy bonnets to display, find it equally desirable to 
'<jome to Bad-Ems. This mixture of sickness and finery — this 
©onfusion between the hectic flush and red and white ribands — ^in 



12 BUBBLES 



short, the dance of death is not the particular sort of folly I am 
fond of; and, though I wish to deprive no human being of his 
hobby-horse, yet I must repeat I was glad enough to leave dukes 
and duchesses, princes and ambassadors (whose carriages I saw 
standing in one single narrow street), to be cooped up together in 
the hot expensive little valley of Ems, — an existence to my 
humble taste, not altogether unlike that which the foul witch 
Sycorax inflicted upon Ariel, when, '^ in her most unmitigable 
rage," she left him ^' hitched in a cloven pine," 

On leaving Ems, the road passing through the old mouldering 
town of Nassau, and under the beautiful ruins of the ducal 
Stamm-Schlosz in its neighborhood, by a very steep acclivity, 
continues to ascend until it mounts at last into a sort of upper 
country, from various points of which are to be seen extensive 
views of the exalted duchy of Nassau, the features of which are 
on a very large scale. 

No one, I think, can breathe this dry, fresh air for a single 
moment, or gaze for an instant on the peculiar color of the sky, 
without both smelling and seeing that he is in a country very 
considerably above the level of the sea ; yet this upper story, 
when it be once attained, is by no means what can be termed a 
mountainous country. On the contrary, the province is composed 
either of flat table-land abruptly intersected by valleys, or rather 
of an undulation of hills and dales on an immense scale. In the 
great tract thus displayed to view, sarcely a habitation is to be 
seen, and for a considerable time I could not help wondering 
what had become of the people who had sown the crops (as far 
as I could see they were in solitude waving around me), and who 
of course were somewhere or other lurking in ambush for the 
harvest : however, their humble abodes are almost all concealed 
in steep ravines, or watercourses, which in every direction inter- 
sect the whole of the region I have described. A bird's-eye view 
would, of course, detect these little villages, but from any one 
point, as the eye roams over the surface, they are not to be seen. 
The duchy, which is completely unenclosed, for there is not even 
a fence to the orchards, appears like a royal park on a gigantic 
scale, about one-half being in corn-fields or uncultivated land, 
and the remainder in patches of woods and forests, which in 



THE- JOURNEY. 13 



shape and position resemble artificial plantations. The province, 
as far as one can see, thus seems to declare that it has but one 
lord and master, and the various views it presents are really very 
grand and imposing. A considerable portion of the wood grows 
among crags and rocks ; and among the open land there is a great 
deal of what is evidently a mining country, with much indicating 
the existence of both iron and silver. The crops of wheat, oats, 
and barley are rather light, yet they are very much better than 
one would expect from the ground from which they grow ; but 
this is the effect of the extraordinarily heavy dews which, during 
the whole summer, may be said, once in twenty-four hours, to 
irrigate the land. 

The small steep ravines I have mentioned are the most roman- 
tic little spots that can well be conceived. The rugged sides of 
the hills which contain them are generally clothed with oak or 
beech trees, feathering to the very bottom, where a strip of green, 
rich, grassy land full of springs, scarcely broader than, and very 
much resembling, the moat of an old castle, is all that divides the 
one wooded eminence from the other ; and it is into these secluded 
gardens, these smiling happy valleys, that the inhabitants of 
Nassau have humbly crept for shelter. These valleys are often 
scarcely broad enough to contain the single street which forms 
the village, and from such little abodes, looking upwards, one 
would fancy that one were living in a mountainous country ; but, 
climb the hill — break the little petty barrier that imprisons you, 
and from the height, gently undulating before you, is the vast 
magnificent country I have described. In short, in the two pros- 
pects, one reads the old story — one sees the common picture of 
human life. Beneath lies the little contracted nook in which we 
were born, studded with trifling objects, each of which we once 
fancied to be highly important ; every little rock has its name, 
and every inch of ground belongs to one man, and therefore does 
not belong to another ; but, lying prostrate before us, is a great 
picture of the world, and until he has seen it, no one born and 
bred below could fancy how vast are its dimensions, or how truly 
insignificant are the billows of that puddle in a storm from which 
he has somehow or other managed to escape. But without meta- 
phor, nothing can be more striking than the contrast which exists 



14 BUBBLES. 



between the little valleys of this duchy, and the great country 
which soars above thern ! 

With respect to the climate of Nassau, v/ithout presuming to 
dictate upon that subject, I will, vv'hile my postilion is jolting me 
along, request the reader to decipher for himself hieroglyphics 
which I think sufficiently explain it. In short, I beg leave to 
offer him the milk of information — Vv arm as I suck it from the 
cow. 

At this moment, everything, see ! is smiling ; the trees are in 
full leaf; the crop in full bearing. In no part of Devonshire or 
Herefordshire have I ever seen such rich crops of apples, the 
trees being here surrounded with a scaffolding of poles, which 
after all seem scarcely sufficient to save the boughs from break- 
ing under their load ; but I ask — How comes the vine to be 
absent from this gay scene ? the low country and even the lov/er 
part of Nassau, we all knov/, teem^s with vineyards, and for some 
way have they crawled up the sides of the mountain; the reason, 
therefore, for their not appearing in the high ground is surely one 
very legible character of the climate. 

Again, at all the bendings of the valleys, why do the trees appear 
so stunted in their growth and why are so many of them staghead- 
ed ? They must surely have some sad serious reasons for wear- 
ing this appearance, and surely any one may guess what it is that 
in the winter rushes by them with such violence, tliat, instinc- 
tively, they seem more anxious to grov/ beneath the soil than 
above it. Again, under that hot, oppressive sun which is now 
hurrying every crop to maturity, why do not the inhabitants look 
like Neapolitans and other indolent Lazzaroni-living people ? — 
how comes it that their features are so hard ? Can the sun have 
beaten them into that shape ? 

Why are the houses they live in huddled together in the 
valleys, instead of enjoying iie magnificent prospect before me ? 
Why do the wealthiest habitations look to the south, and why are 
the roofs of the houses built or pitched so perpendicularly that it 
seems as if nothing could rest upon their surface 1 Why are tlie 
windows so small and the walls so thick ? I might torment my 
reader with many other questions, such as why, in this large 
country, is there scarcely a bird to be seen ? but I dare say he 



THE JOURNEY. 15 



has already determined for himself, whether the lofty province of 
Nassau, during the winter, be hot or cold ; in short, what must 
be its climate at the moment when the Rhine and the expanse of 
low country, lying about 1200 feet beneath it, is frozen and 
covered with snow ? 

Yet vv^hatever may be the climate of the upper country of 
Nassau, the duchy, taken altogether, may fairly be said to con- 
tribute more than an average share towards the luxuries and com- 
forts of mankind. Besides fine timber-trees of oak, beech, birch, 
and fir, there are crops of corn of every sort, as well as potatoes 
which v/ould not be despised in England ; several of the wines 
(for instance, those on the estates of Hochheim, Eberbach, Rud- 
esheim, and Johannisburg) are the finest on the Rhine, while there 
are fruits, such as apples, pears, cherries, apricots, strawberries, 
raspberries (the two latter growing v/ild), &c., &c., in the greatest 
abundance. 

Not only are there mines of the precious metals and of iron, 
but there is also coal, which we all know will, when the gigantic 
powers of steam are developed, become the nucleus of every 
nation's wealth. In addition to all this, the duchy is celebrated 
over the whole of Germany for its mineral waters ; and certainly 
if they be at all equal to the reputation they have acquired, 
Nassau may be said to contribute to mankind what is infinitely 
better than all wealth, namely — health. 

From its hills burst mineral streams of various descriptions, 
and besides the Selters or Seltzer water, which is drunk as a 
luxury in e\ery quarter of the globe, there are bright, sparkling 
remedies prescribed for almost every disorder under the sun : for 
instance, should the reader be consumptive, or, what is much 
more probable, be dyspeptic, let him hurry to Ems ; if he wishes 
to instil iron into his jaded system, and brace up his muscles, let 
him go to Langen-Schwalbach ; if his brain should require calm- 
ing, his nerves soothing, and his skin softening, let him glide 
onwards to Schlangenbad — the serpent's bath ; but if he should 
be rheumatic in his limbs, or if mercury should be running riot 
in his system, let him hasten, " body and bones," to Wiesbaden, 
where, they say, by being parboiled in the Kochbrunnen (boiling 
spring), all his troubles will evaporate. 



16 BUBBLES. 



To these different waters of Nassau flock annually thousands 
and thousands of people from all parts of Germany ; and so 
celebrated are they for the cures which they have effected, that 
not only do people come even from Russia, Poland, Denmark, &c., 
but a vast quantity of the waters, in stone bottles, is annually 
sent to these remote countries. Yet it is odd enough, that the 
number of English, who have visited the mineral springs of 
Nassau, bears no proportion to that of any other nation of Europe, 
although Spa, and some other continental watering-places, have 
been much deserted by foreigners, on account of the quantity of 
the British who have thronged there ; but somehow or other, our 
country people are like locusts, for they not only fly in myriads 
to distant countries, but, as they travel, they congregate in clouds, 
and, therefore, either are they found absolutely eating up a foreign 
country, or not one of them is to be seen there ! How many thou- 
sands and hundreds of thousands of English, with their mouths, 
eyes, and purses wide open, have followed each other, in mourn- 
ful succession, up and down the Rhine ; and yet, though 
Nassau has stood absolutely in their path, I believe I may 
assert that not twenty families have taken up their abode at 
Langen-Schwalbach or Schlangenbad in the course of the last 
twenty years ; and yet there is no country on earth that could 
turn out annually more consumptive, rheumatic, and dyspeptic 
patients than old England ! In process of time, the little duchy 
will, no doubt, be as well known as Cheltenham, Malvern, dec. ; 
however, until fashion, that painted direction-post, points her 
finger towards it, it v/ill continue (so far as we are concerned) to 
exist, as it really does, in nuhibus. 

There are 56,712 human habitations in the duchy of Nassau, 
and 355,815 human beings to live in them. Of these, 188,244 
are Protestants, 161,535 are Catholics; there are 191 Mennon- 
ites or dissenters ; and scattered among these bleak hills, just as 
their race is mysteriously scattered over the face of the globe, 
there are 5845 Jews. The Duke of Nassau is the cacique, king, 
emperor, or commander-in-chief of the province ; and people 
here are everlastingly talking of the Duke, as in England they 
talk of the sun, the moon, or any other luminary of which there 
exists only one in our system. He is certainly the sovereign lord 



THE JOURNEY. 17 



of this lofty country ; and travelling along, I have just observed 
a certain little bough sticking out of every tenth sheaf of corn, 
the meaning of v/hich is, no doubt, perfectly well understood both 
by him and the peasant : in short, in all the principal villages 
there are barns built on purpose for receiving this tribute, with a 
man, paid by the Duke, for collecting it. 

In approaching Langen-Schv/albach, being of course anxious, 
as early as possible, to get a glimpse of a town which I had 
already determined to inhabit for a few days, I did all in my 
power to explain this feeling to the dull, gaudy fellow who drove 
me ; but whenever I inquired for Langen-Schwalbach, so often 
did the mute creature point with a long German whip to the open 
country, as if it existed directly before him ; but, no, not a human 
habitation could I discover ! However, as I proceeded onwards, the 
whip, in reply to my repeated interrogatories to its dumb owner, 
began to show a sort of magnetical dip, until, at last, it pointed 
almost perpendicularly downwards into a ravine, which was 
now immediately beneath me ; yet though I could see, as I 
thought, almost to the bottom of it, still not a vestige of a town 
was to be seen. However, the whip was quite right, for, in a 
very few seconds, peeping up from the very bottom of the valley, 
I perceived, like poplar trees, a couple of church steeples ; then 
suddenly came in sight a long narrow village of slated roofs, and, 
in a very few seconds, I found my carriage rattling and trumpet- 
ing along a street, until it stopped at the Goldene Kette, or, as we 
should call it, the Golden Chain. 

The master of this hotel appeared to be a most civil, obliging 
person ; and though his house was nearly full, yet he suddenly 
felt so much respect either for me or for the contents of my wal- 
let — which, in descending from the carriage, I had placed, for a 
moment, in his hands — that he used many arguments to persuade 
as both to become noble appendages to his fine Golden Chain : 
yet there were certain noises, uncertain smells, and a degree of 
bustle in his house which did not at all suit me ; and, therefore, 
at once, mercifully annihilating his hopes by a grave bow which 
could not be misinterpreted, I slowly walked into the street to 
select for myself a private lodging, and, for a considerable time, 
experienced very great difficulty. With hands clasped behind 
3 



18 BUBBLES. 

me, in vain did I slowly stroll about, looking out for anything at 
all like a paper or a board in a window ; and I was beginning to 
fear that there were no lodging-houses in the town, when I at last 
found out that there were very few which were not. I therefore 
selected a clean, quiet-looking dwelling ; and, finding the inside 
equal to the out, I at once engaged apartments. 

The next morning (having been refreshed by a good night's 
rest), 1 put a small note-book into my pocket, and having learnt 
that in the whole valley there vs'as no English blood, except the 
little that was v/ithin my own black silk waistcoat, I felt that, 
without fear of interruption, I might go v/herc I liked, do what I 
liked, and sketch the outline of v/hatever cither pleased my eye 
or amused my fancy. My first duty, however, evidently was to 
understand the geography of the town, or rather village, of Lan- 
gen-Schwalhach, w^hich I found to be in the shape of the letter 
Y, or (throv/ing, as I wish to do, literature aside) of a long-handled 
two-pronged fork. The village is 1500 paces in length — that is 
to say, the prongs are each about 500 yards, and the lower street, 
or handle of the fork, is about 1000 yards. 

On the first glimpse of the buildings from the heights, my eyes 
had been particularly attracted by high, irregular slated roofs, 
many of which were fantastically ornamented with little spires, 
about two feet high, but it now appeared that the buildings them- 
selves were constructed even more irregularly than their roofs. 
The village is composed of houses of all sizes, shapes, and colors ; 
some, having been lately plastered, and painted yellow, white, or 
pale green, have a modern appearance, while others wear a dress 
about as old as the hills which surround them. Of these latter, 
some are standing with their sides towards the streets, others look 
at you with their gables ; some overhang the passenger, as if they 
intended to crush him ; some shrink backwards, as if, like mis- 
anthropes, they loathed him, or, like maidens, they feared him ; 
some lean sideways, as if they were suffering from a painful dis- 
order in their hips ; many, apparently from curiosity, have ad- 
vanced, while a few, in disgust, have retired a step or two. 

All the best dwellings in the town are '^ hofs," or lodging- 
houses, having jalousies, or Venetian blinds, to the windows ; and 
I must own I did not expect to find in so remote a situation houses 



THE JOURNEY. 19 



of such large dimensions. For instance, the Allee Saal has 
nineteen v/indows in front ; the great *' Indien Hof " is three 
stori'^s high, with sixteen windows in each ; the '' Pariser Hof *' 
has twelve, and several others have eight and ten. 

Of late years a number of the largest houses have been plas- 
tered on the outside, but the appearance of the rest is highly pic- 
turesque. They are built of wood and unburnt bricks, but the 
immense quantity of timber which has been consumed would 
clearly indicate the vicinity of a large forest, even if one could 
not see its dark foliage towering on every side above the town. 
Wood having been of so little value, it has been crammed into 
the houses, as if the builder's object had been to hide away as 
much of it as possible. The whole fabric is a network of timber 
of all lengths, shapes, and sizes ; and these limbs, sometimes 
rudely sculptured, often bent into every possible contortion, form 
a confused picture of rustic architecture, which, amid such wild 
mountain scenery, one cannot refuse to admire. The interstices 
between all this woodwork are filled up with brov/n, unburnt 
bricks, so soft and porous, that in our moist climate they would 
in one winter be decomposed, while a very few seasons would also 
rot the timbers which they connect : however, such is evidently 
the dryness of mountain air, that buildings can exist here in this 
rude state, and indeed have existed, for several hundred years, 
with the woodwork unpainted. 

In rambling about the three streets, one is surprised, at first, at 
observing tliat apparently there is scarcely a shop in the town ! 
Before three or four windows, carcasses of sheep, or of young 
calves but a few days old, are seen hanging by their heels ; and 
loaves of bread are placed for sale before a very few doors ; but, 
generally speaking, the dwellings are either '' Hofs " for lodg- 
ers, or they appear to be a set of nondescript private-house^ ; 
nevertheless, by patiently probing, the little shop is at last discov- 
ered. In one of these secluded dens one can buy coffee, sugar, 
butter, nails, cotton, chocolate, ribands, brandy, etc. Still, how- 
ever, there is no external display of any such articles, for the 
crowd of rich people who, like the swallows, visit during the 
summer weeks the sparkling water of Langen-Schwalbach, live 
at " hofs," whose proprietors well enough know where to search 



20 BUBBLES 

for what they want. During so short a residence these fashion- 
able visitors require no new clothes, nails, brii-istone, or coarse 
linen. It is, therefore, useless for the little shopkeeper to attempt 
to gain ilieir custom ; and as, during the rest of the year, the 
village exists in simplicity, quietness, and obscurity, the inhabit- 
ants knowing each other, require neither signs nor inscriptions. 
Peasants coming to Langen-Schwalbach from other villages, 
inquire for the sort of shop which will suit them ; or if they w^ant 
(as they generall}^ do) tobacco, oil, or some rancid commodity, 
their noses are quite intelligent enough to lead them to the doors 
they ought to enter ; indeed, I myself very soon found that it was 
quite possible thus to hunt for my own game. 

I have already stated that Langen-Schvv^albach is like a kitchen 
fork, the handle of which is the lower or old part of the town ; 
the prongs representing two streets built in ravines, down each of 
which a small stream of water descends. The Stahl brunnen 
(steel spring) is at the head of the tow^n, at the upper extremity of 
the right prong. Close to the point of the other prong is the Wein 
brunnen (wine spring), and about 600 yards up the same valley 
is situated the fashionable brunnen of Pauline. Between these 
three points, brunnens, or w^ells, the visitors at Langen-Schwal- 
bach, with proper intervals for rest and food, are everlastingly 
vibrating. Backwards and forwards, '^ down the middle and up 
again,'' the strangers are seen walking, or rather crawling, with 
a constancy that is really quite astonishing. Among the number 
there may be here and there a Coelebs in search of a wife, and a 
very few sets of much smaller feet may, imparl passu, be occa- 
sionally seen pursuing nothing but their mammas ; however, 
generally speaking, the whole troop is chasing one and the same 
game : they are all searching for the same treasure — in short, 
they are seeking for health : but it is now necessary that the 
reader should be informed by what means they hope to attain it. 

In the time of the Romans, Schwalbach, which means literally 
the swallow's stream, was a forest containing an immense sul- 
phurous fountain famed for its medicinal effects. In proportion 
as it rose into notice, hovels, huts, and houses were erected ; until 
a small street or village was tlms gradually established on the 
north and south of the well. There was little to otFer to tlie 



THE JOURNEY. 21 



Stranger but its waters ; yet, health being a commodity which 
people have always been willing enough to purchase, the medi- 
cine was abundantly drunk, and in the same proportion the little 
hamlet continued to grow, until it justly attained and claimed for 
itself the appellation of Langen (long) Schwalbach. 

About sixty years ago the Stahl and Wein brunnens were dis- 
covered. The springs were found to be quite different from the 
old one, inasmuch as, instead of being only sulphurous, they were 
both strongly impregnated with iron and carbonic acid gas. In- 
stead, therefore, of merely purifying the blood, they boldly under- 
took to strengthen the human frame ; and, in proportion as they 
attracted notice, so the old original brunnen became neglected. 
About three years ago a new spring was discovered in the valley 
above the Wein brunnen ; this did not contain quite so much iron 
as the Stahl or Wein brunnen ; but^ possessing other ingredients 
(among them that of novelty) which were declared to be more 
salutary, it was patronized by Dr. Fenner, as being preferable to 
the brimstone as well as other brunnens in the country. It was 
accordingly called Pauline, after the present Duchess of Nassau, 
and is now the fashionable brunnen, or well of Langen-Schwal- 
bach. 

The village doctors, however, disagree on the subject ; and 
Dr. Stritter, a very mild, sensible man, recommends his patients 
to the strong Stahl brunnen, almost as positively as Dr. Fenner 
sentences his victims to the Pauline. Which is right, and which 
is wrong, is one of the mysteries of this world ; but as the cunning 
Jews all go to the Stahl brunnen, I strongly suspect that they have 
some good reason for this departure from the fashion. 

As I observed people of all shapes, ages, and constitutions 
swallowing the waters of Langen-Schwalbach, I felt that, being 
absolutely on the brink of the brunnen, I might, at least as an 
experiment, join this awkward squad — that it would be quite time 
enough to desert if I should find reason to do so — in short, that by 
trying the waters I should have a surer proof whether they agreed 
with me or not, than by listening to the conflicting opinions of 
all the doctors in the universe. However, not knowing exactly 
in what quantities to take them, — having learnt that Dr. Fenner 
himself had the greatest number of patients, and that moreover 



22 BUBBLES. 



being a one-eyeii man he was much the easiest to be found, I 
walked towards the shady walk near the Allee Saal, resolving 
eventually to consult him; however, in turning a sharp corner, 
happening almost to run against a gentleman in black, " cui 
lumen ademptum," I gravely accosted him, and finding, as I did 
in one moment, that I was right, in the middle of the street I 
began to explain that he saw before him a wheel that wanted a 
new tire, — a shoe which required a new sole — a worn-out vessel 
seeking the hand of the tinker ; in short, that feeling very old, I 
merely w^anted to become young again. 

Dr. Fenner is what would be called in England '^ a regular 
character," and being a shrewd, clever fellow, he evidently finds 
it answer, and endeavors to maintain a singularity of manner, 
which with his one eye (the other having been extinguished in a 
college duel) serves to bring him into general notice. As soon as 
my gloomy tale was concluded, the Doctor, who had been patient- 
ly walking at my side, stopped dead short, and when I turned 
round to look for him, there I saw him with his right arm extend- 
ed, its fore-finger and thumb clenched, as if holding snuff, while 
its other three digits horizontally extended like the hand of a 
direction-post. With his heels close together, he stood as lean 
and as erect as a ramrod, the black patch which like a hatchment 
hung over the window of his departed eye being supported by a 
riband wound diagonally round his head. " Monsieur !" said he 
(for he speaks a little French), " Monsieur !" he repeated, " a six 
heures du matin vous prendrez a la Pauline trois verres! trois verres 
a la Pauline !" he repeated. ^' A dix heures vous prendrez un bain 
— en sortant du bain vous prendrez . . . (he paused, and after 
several seconds of deep thought, he added) . . . encore deux 
verres, et a cinq heures du soir. Monsieur, vous prendrez . . . 
(another long pause) . . . encore trois verres ! Monsieur ! ces 
eaux vous feront beaucoup de bien ! !" 

The arm of the sibyl now fell to his side, like the limb of a 
telegraph which had just concluded its intelligence. The Doctor 
made me a low bow, spun round upon his heel, " and so he van- 
ished." 

I had not exactly bargained for bathing in, as well as drinking, 
the waters ; however, feeling in great good-humor with the little 



THE JOURNEY. 23 



world I was inhabiting, I was willing to go with (i. e. info) its 
stream, and as I found that almost every visitor was daily soaked 
for an hour or two, 1 could not but admit that what was prescrib- 
ed for such geese, might also be very good sauce for the gander ; 
and that at all events a bath would at least have the advantage of 
drowning for me one hour per day, in case I should find fbur-and- 
twenty of such visitors more than I wanted. 

In a very few days I got quite accustomed to what a sailor would 
call the " fresh water life " which had been prescribed for me ; 
and as no clock in the universe could be more regular than my 
behavior, an account of one day's performances, multiplied by the 
number I remained, will give the reader, very nearly, the history 
or picture of an existence at Langen-Schwalbach. 



24 BUBBLES. 



THE REVEILLE 



At a quarter-past five I arose, and as soon after as possible left 
the '^hof." Every house was open, the streets already swept, 
the inhabitants all up, the living world appeared broad awake, 
and there was nothing to denote the earliness of the hour, but the 
delicious freshness of the cool mountain air, which as yet, unen- 
feebled by the sun, just beaming above the hill, was in that pure 
state in which it had been all night long slumbering in the valley. 
The face of nature seemed beaming with health, and though there 
were no larks at Schwalbach gently " to carol at the morn," yet 
immense red German slugs were everywhere in my path, looking 
wetter, colder, fatter, and happier than they or I have words to 
express. They had evidently been gorging themselves during 
the night, and were now crawling into shelter to sleep away the 
day. 

As soon as, getting from beneath the shaded walk of the Allee 
Saal, I reached the green valley leading to the Pauline brunnen, 
it was quite delightful to look at the grass, as it sparkled in the 
sun, every green blade being laden with dew in such heavy par- 
ticles, that there seemed to be quite as much water as grass ; in- 
deed the crop was actually bending under the weight of nourish- 
ment which, during the deep silence of night. Nature had libe- 
rally imparted to it ; and it was evident that the sun would have 
to rise high in the heavens before it could attain strength enough 
to rob the turf of this fertilizing and delicious treasure. 

At this early hour, I found but few people on the walks, and 
on reaching the brunnen, the first agreeable thing I received there 
was a smile from a very honest, homely, healthy, old woman, 
who having seen me approaching, had selected from her table my 
glass, the handle of which she had marked by a piece of tape. 



THE REVEILLE. 35 



" Guten morgen !" she muttered, and then, without at all de- 
ranging the hospitality of her smile, stooping down, she dashed 
the vessel into the brunnen beneath her feet, and in a sort of civil 
hurry (lest any of its spirit should escape), she presented me 
with a glass of her eau m^dicinale. Clear as crystal, sparkling 
with carbonic acid gas, and effervescing quite as much as cham- 
pagne, it was nevertheless miserably cold ; and the first morning, 
what with the gas, and what witli the cold temperature of this 
cold iron water, it was about as much as I could do to swallow 
it ; and, for a few seconds, feeling as if it had sluiced my stom- 
ach completely by surprise, I stood hardly knowing what was 
about to happen, when, instead of my teeth chattering, as I ex- 
pected, I felt the water suddenly grow warm within my waistcoat, 
and a slight intoxication, or rather exhilaration succeeded. 

As I have always had an unconquerable aversion to walking 
backwards and forwards on a formal parade, as soon as I had 
drunk my first glass I at once commenced ascending the hill 
which rises immediately from the brunnen. Paths in zigzags are 
cut in various directions through the wood, but so steep, that very 
few of the water-drinkers like to encounter them. I found the 
trees to be oak and beech, the ground beneath being covered 
with grass and heather, among which were, growing wild, quan- 
tities of ripe strawberries and raspberries. The large red snails 
were in great abundance, and immense black beetles were also in 
the paths, heaving at, and pushing upwards, round balls of dung, 
(Ssc, very much bigger than themselves ; the grass 'and heather 
v/ere soaked with dew, and even the strawberries looked much 
too wet to be eaten. However, I may observe, that while drink- 
ing mineral waters, all fruit, wet or dry, is forbidden. Smother- 
ed up in wood, there was, of course, nothing to be seen ; but as 
soon as I gained the summit of the hill, a very pretty hexagonal 
rustic hut, built of trees with the bark on, and thatched with 
heather, presented itself. The sides were open, excepting two, 
which were built up of sticks and moss. A rough circular table 
was in the middle, upon which two or three young people had 
cut their names ; and round the inner circumference of the hut 
there was a bench, on which I was glad enough to rest, while I 
enjoyed the extensive prospect. 



26 BUBBLES. - 



The features of this picture, so different from anything to be 
seen in England, were exceedingly large, and the round rolling 
clouds seemed bigger even than the distant mountains upon which 
they rested. Not a fence w^as to be seen, but dark patches of 
wood, of various shapes and sizes, were apparently dropped down 
upon the cultivated surface of the country, which, as far as the 
eye could reach, looked like the fairy park of some huge giant. 
In the foreground, however, small fields, and little narrow strips 
of land, denoted the existence of a great number of poor proprie- 
tors ; and even if Langen-Schwalbach had not been seen crouch- 
ing at the bottom of its deep valley, it would have been quite evi- 
dent that, in the immediate neighborhood, there must be, some- 
where or other, a town ; for, in many places, the divisions of land 
were so small, that one could plainly distinguish provender grow- 
ing for the poor man's cow, — ^the little patch of rye which was to 
become bread for his children, — and the half-acre of potatoes 
which was to help them through the winter. Close to the town 
these divisions and sub-divisions were exceedingly small ; but 
when every little family had been provided for, the fields grew 
larger ; and, at a short distance from where I sat, there were 
crops, ripe and waving, which were evidently intended for a 
larger and more distant market. 

As soon as I had sufficiently enjoyed the freshness and the 
freedom of this interesting landscape, it was curious to look down 
from the hut upon the walk which leads from the AUee Saal to 
the brunnen or well of Pauline ; for, by this time, all ranks 
of people had arisen from their beds, and the sun being now warm, 
the heau monde of Langen-Schwalbach was seen slowly loitering 
up and down the promenade. 

At the rate of about a mile and a half an hour, I observed 
several hundred quiet people crawling through and fretting away 
that narrow portion of their existence which lay between one 
glass of cold iron water and another. If an individual were to be 
sentenced to such a life, which in fact has all the fatigue without 
the pleasing sociability of the tread-mill, he would call it melan- 
choly beyond endurance ; yet there is no pill which fashion cannot 
gild, or which habit cannot sweeten. I remarked that the men 
were dressed, generally, in loose, ill-made, snuff-colored great 



THE REVEILLE. 27 



coats, with awkward travelling caps, of various shapes, instead 
3f hats. The picture, therefore, taking it altogether, was a 
homely one ; but, although there were no particularly elegant 
or fashionable-looking people, although their gait was by no 
means attractive, yet even, from the lofty distant hut, I felt it was 
impossible to help admiring the good sense and good feeling 
with which all the elements of this German community 
appeared to be harmonizing one with the other. There was 
no jostling, or crowding ; no apparent competition ; no turning 
round to stare at strangers. There was no " martial look nor 
lordly stride," but real genuine good breeding seemed natural 
to all : it is true there was nothing which bore a very high aristo- 
cratic polish : yet it was equally evident that the substance of 
their society was intrinsically good enough not to require it. 

The behavior of such a motley assemblage of people, who 
belonged, of course, to all ranks and conditions of life, in my 
humble opinion, did them and their country very great credit. It 
was quite evident that every man on the promenade, whatever 
might have been his birth, was desirous to behave like a gentle- 
man ; and that there was no one, however exalted might be his 
station, who wished to do any more. 

That young lady, rather more quietly dressed than the rest of 
her sex, is the Princess Leuenstein ; her countenance (could it 
but be seen from the hut) is as unassuming as her dress, and her 
manners as quiet as her bonnet. Her husband, who is one of the 
group of gentlemen behind her, is mild, gentleman-like, and (if in 
these days such a title may, without offence, be given to a young 
man), I would add — he is modest. 

There are one or tv/o other princes on the promenade, with a 
very fair sprinkling of dukes, counts, barons, &c. 

" There they go, all together in a row !" 

but though they congregate, — though like birds of a feather they 
flock together, is there, I ask, anything arrogant in their behavior ? 
and that respect which they meet with from every one, does it not 
seem to be honestly their due ? That uncommonly awkward, 
short, little couple who walk holding each other by the hand, and 
who, apropos to nothing, occasionally break playfully into a trot, 



28 BUBBLES 



are a Jew and Jewess lately married ; and, as it is whispered that 
they have some mysterious reason for drinking the waters, the 
uxorious anxiety with which the little man presents the glass of 
cold comfort to his herring-made partner does not pass completely 
unobserved. That slow gentleman, with such an immense body, 
who seems to be acquainted with the most select people on the 
walk, is an ambassador, who goes nowhere — no, not even to 
mineral waters, without his French cook, — a circumstance quite 
enough to make everybody speak well of him — a very honest, 
good-natured man he seems to be ; but as he walks, can anything 
be more evident than that his own cook is killing him, and what 
possible benefit can a few glasses of cold water do to a corporation 
which FalstafF's belt would be too short to encircle ? 

Often and often have I pitied Diogenes for having lived in a 
tub ; but this poor ambassador is infinitely worse off, for the tub, 
it is too evident, lives in liim^ and carry it about with him he 
must wherever he goes ; but, without smiling at any more of my 
water companions, it is time I should descend to drink my second 
and third glass. One would think that this deluge of cold water 
would leave little room for tea and sugar ; but miraculous as it 
may sound, by the time I got to my " Hof," there was as much 
stowage in the vessel as when she sailed ; besides this, the steel 
created a rebellious appetite which it was very difficult to govern. 

As soon as breakfast was over, I generally enjoyed the luxury 
of idling about the town ; and, in passing the shop of a blacksmith, 
who lived opposite to the Goldene Kette, the manner in which he 
tackled and shod the vicious horse always amused me. On the 
outside wall of the house, two rings were firmly fixed ; to one of 
which the head of the patient was lashed close to the ground ; the 
hind foot, to be shod, stretched out to the utmost extent of the leg, 
was tlien secured to the other ring about fiwe feet high, by a cord 
which passed through a cloven hitch, fixed to the root of the poor 
creature's tail. 

The hind foot was consequently very much higher than the 
head ; indeed, it was so exalted, and pulled so heavily at the tail, 
that the animal seemed to be quite anxious to keep his other feet 
on terra firma. With one hoof in the heavens, it did not suit him 
to kick ; with his nose pointing to the infernal regions, he could 



THE REVEILLE. 29 



not conveniently rear ; and as the devil himself was apparently 
pulling at his tail, the horse at last gave up the point, and quietly 
submitted to be shod. 

Nearly opposite to this blacksmith, sitting under the projecting 
eaves of the Goldene Kette, there were to be seen, every day, a 
row of women with immense baskets of fruit, which they had 
brought over the hills, on their heads. The cherries were of the 
largest and finest description, while the quantity of their stones 
lying on the paved street, was quite sufficient to show at what a 
cheap rate they were sold. Plums, apricots, greengages, apples, 
and pears, were also in the greatest profusion ; however, in pass- 
ing these baskets, strangers were strictly ordered to avert their eyes. 
In short, whenever raw fruit and mineral water unexpectedly 
meet each other in the human stomach, a sort of bubble-and- 
squeak contest invariably takes place — the one always endeavor- 
ing to turn the other out of the house. 

The crowd of idle boys, who like wasps were always hovering 
round these fruit-selling women, I often observed very amusingly 
dispersed by the arrival of some German grandee in his huge travel- 
ling carriage. For at least a couple of minutes before the thing 
appeared, the postilion, as he descended the mountain, was heard 
attempting to notify to the town the vast importance of his cargo, 
by playing on his trumpet a tune which, in tone and flourish, ex- 
actly resembled that which, in London, announces the approach 
of Punch. There is something always particularly harsh and 
discordant in the notes of a trumpet badly blown ; but when 
placed to the lips of a great lumbering German postilion, who, 
half smothered in his big boots and tawdry finery, Jias, besides 
this crooked instrument, to hold the reins of two wheel horses, as 
well as of two leaders, his attempt, in such deep affliction, to be 
musical, is comic in the extreme ; and, when the fellow at last 
arrived at the Goldene Kette, playing a tune which I expected 
every moment would make the head of Judy pop out of the carriage, 
one could not help feeling that, if the money which that trumpet 
must have cost had been spent in a pair of better spurs, it would 
have been of much more advantage and comfort to the traveller ; 
but German posting always reminds me of that well-known 



30 BUBBLES. 



remark which the Black Prince was one day heard to utter, as 
he was struggling with all his might to shave a pig. 

However, though 1 most willingly join my fellow-countrymen 
in ridiculing the tawdry heavy equipment of the German postilion, 
one's nose always feeling disposed to turn itself upwards at the 
sight of a horseman awkwardly encumbered with great, unmean- 
ing, yellow worsted tassels, and other broad ornaments, which 
seem better adapted to our four-post bedsteads than to a rider, 
yet I reluctantly acknowledged that I do verily believe their horses 
are much more scientifically harnessed, for slow heavy draught, 
than ours are in England. 

Many years have now elapsed since I first observed that, some- 
how or other, the horses on the Continent manage to pull a heavy 
carriage up a steep hill, or along a dead level, with greater ease 
to themselves than our English horses. Let any unprejudiced 
person attentively observe with what little apparent fatigue three 
small ill-conditioned animals will draw not only his own carriage, 
but very often that huge overgrown vehicle, the French diligence, 
or the German eil-wagen, and I think he must admit that, some- 
where or other, there exists a mystery. 

But the whole equipment is so unsightly — the rope harness is 
so rude — the horses without blinkers look so wild — there is so 
much bluster and noise in the postilion, that, far from paying any 
compliment to the turn-out, one is very much disposed at once to 
condemn the whole thing, and not caring a straw whether such 
horses be fatigued or not, to make no other remark than that, in 
England, we should have travelled at nearly twice the rate, with 
one-tenth of the noise. 

But neither the rate nor the noise is the question which I wish 
to consider, for our superiority in the former, and our inferiority 
in the latter, cannot be doubted. The thing I want, if possible, 
to account for, is, how such small weak horses do manage to 
draw one's carriage up hill, with so much unaccountable ease to 
themselves. 

Now, in English, French, and German harness, there exist, as 
it were, three degrees of comparison, in the manner In which the 
head of the horse is treated ; for, in England, it is elevated, or 
borne up, by what we call the bearing-rein ; in France it is left 



THE REVEILLE. 31 



as nature placed it (there being to common French harness no 
bearing-rein) ; while, in Germany, the head is tied down to the 
lower extremity of the collar, or else the collar is so made that 
the animal is by it deprived of the power of raising his head. 

Now, it is undeniable that the English extreme and the German 
extreme cannot both be right ; and passing over for a moment the 
French method, which is, in fact, the state of nature, let us for a 
iTioment consider which is best, to bear a horse's head up, as in 
England, or to pull it downwards, as in Germany. In my hum- 
ble opinion, both are wrong : still there is some science in the 
German error ; whereas in our treatment of the poor animal, we 
go directly against all mechanical calculation. 

In a state of nature, the wild horse (as everybody know^s) has 
two distinct gaits or attitudes. If man, or any still wilder beast, 
come suddenly upon him, up goes his head ; and as he first stalks 
and then trots gently away, with ears erect, snorting with his 
nose, and proudly snuffing up the air, us if exulting in his free- 
dom ; as each fore-leg darts before the other, one sees before one 
a picture of doubt, astonishment, and hesitation, — all of which 
feelings seem to rein him, like a troop-horse, on his haunches ; 
but attempt to pursue him, and the moment he defies you — the 
moment, determining to escape, he shakes his head, and lays him- 
self to his work, hov/ completely does he alter his attitude ! — for 
then down goes his head, and from his ears to the tip of his tail, 
there is in his vertebrae an undulating action which seems to pro- 
pel him, which works him along, and which, it is evident, you 
could not deprive him of, without materially diminishing his 
speed. 

Now, in harness, the horse has naturally the same two gaits 
or attitudes ; and it is quite tr^e that he can start away with a 
carriage, either in the one or the other ; but the means by which 
he succeeds in this effort, the physical powers which, in each 
case, he calls into action, are essentially different : for in the one 
attitude he works by his muscles, and in the other by his own 
dead, or rather living, weight. In order to grind corn, if any 
man were to erect a steam-engine over a fine, strong, running 
stream, we should all say to him, " Why do you not allow your 
wheel to be turned by cold water instead of by hot ? Why do 



32 BUBBLES, 



you not avail yourself of the weight of the water, instead of ex- 
pending your capital in converting it into the power of steam ? 
In short, why do you not use the simple resource which nature 
has presented ready made to your hand ?" In the same way, the 
Germans might say to us, " We acknowledge that a horse can 
drag a carriage hy the power of his muscles, but why do you not 
allow them to drag it by his weight V^ 

In France, and particularly in Germany, horses do draw by 
their w^eight ; and it is to encourage them to raise up their backs, 
and lean downwards with their heads, that the German collars 
are made in the way I have described ; that with a certain degree 
of rude science, the horse's nose is tied to the bottom of his collar^ 
and that the postilion at starting, speaking gently to him, allows 
him to get himself into a proper attitude for his draught. 

The horse thus treated, leans against the resistance which he 
meets with, and his weight being infinitely greater than his 
draught (I mean the balance being in his favor), the carriage 
follows him without much more strain or effort on his part, than 
if he were idly leaning his chest against his manger. It is true 
the flesh of his shoulder may become sore from severe pressure^ 
but his sinews and muscles are comparatively at rest. 

Now, as a contrast to this picture of the German horse, let any 
one observe a pair of English post-horses dragging a heavy 
weight up a hill, and he will at once see that the poor creatures 
are working by their muscles, and that it is by sinews and- main 
strength the resistance is overcome ; but how can it be other- 
wise ? for their heads are considerably higher than nature in- 
tended them to be even in walkings in a state of liberty, carrying 
nothing but themselves. The balance of their bodies is, there- 
fore, absolutely turned against^ instead of leaning in favor of, their 
draught, and thus cruelly deprived of the mechanical advantage 
of weight which everywhere else in the universe is duly appre- 
ciated, the noble spirit of our high-fed horses induces them to 
strain and drag the carriage forwards by their muscles ; and, if 
the reader will but pass his hands down the back sinews of any 
of our stage-coach or post-chaise horses, he will soon feel (though 
not so keenly as they do) what is the fatal consequence. It is 
true that, in ascending a very steep hill, an English postilion will 



THE REVEILLE. 33 



occasionally unhook the bearing- reins of his horses ; but the poor 
jaded creatures, trained for years to work in a false attitude, can- 
not, in one moment, get themselves into the scientific position 
which the German horses are habitually encouraged to adopt ; 
besides this, we are so sharp with our horses — we keep them so 
constantly on the qui vive, or, as we term it, in hand — that we are 
always driving them from the use of their weight to the applica- 
tion of their sinews. 

That the figure and attitude of a horse, working by his sinews, 
are infinitely prouder than when he is working by his weight 
(there may exist, however, false pride among horses as well as 
among men), I most readily admit, and, therefore, for carriages 
of luxury, when the weight bears little proportion to the powers 
of the two noble animals, I acknowledge that the sinews are more 
than sufficient for the slight labor required ; but to bear up the 
head of a poor horse at plough, or at any slow, heavy work, is, I 
humbly submit, a barbarous error, which ought not to be per- 
sisted in. 

I may be quite wrong in the way in which I have just endea- 
vored to account for the fact that horses on the Continent draw 
heavy weights with apparently greater ease to themselves than 
our horses, and I almost hope that I am wrong ; for laughing, as 
we all do at the German and French harness ; sneering, as we 
do, at their ropes, and wondering out loud, as we always do, why 
they do not copy us, it would not be a little provoking were we, 
in spite of our fine harness, to find out, that for slow, heavy 
draught, it is better to tie a horse's nose downwards, like the 
German, than upwards, like the English, and that the French 
way of leaving them at liberty is better than both. 

4 i 



34 BUBBLES. 



THE BATH. 



The eager step with which I always walked towards the strong 
steel hath is almost indescribable. Health is such an inestimable 
blessing ; it colors so highly the little picture of life ; it sweetens 
so exquisitely the small cup of our existence ; it is so like sun- 
shine, in the absence of which the world, with all its beauties, 
would be, as it once was, '' without form and void," that I can 
conceive nothing which a man ought more eagerly to do than get 
between the stones of that mill which is to grind him young again, 
particularly when, as in my case, the operation w^as to be attended 
with no pain. When, therefore, I had once left my Hof to walk 
to the bath, I felt as if no power on earth could arrest my 
progress. 

The oblong slated building, which contains the famous waters 
of Langen-Schwalbach, is plain and unassuming in its elevation, 
and very sensibly adapted to its purpose. The outside walls are 
plastered, and colored a very light red. There are five-and- 
twenty windows in front with an arcade or covered walk be- 
neath them, supported by an equal number of pilasters, con- 
nected together by Saxon arches. On entering the main door, 
which is in the centre, the great staircase is immediately in front ; 
and close to it, on the left, there sits a man, from whom the per- 
son about to bathe purchases his ticket, for which he pays forty- 
eight kreuzers, about sixteen pence. 

The Pauline spring is conducted to the baths on the upper 
story ; the Wein brunnen supplies those below on the left of the 
staircase ; the strong Stahl, or steel brunnen, those on the right ; 
all these baths opening into passages, which, in both stories, ex- 
tend the whole length of the building. At the commencement of 



THE BATH, 35 



ctaeh hour, there was always a great bustle between the people 
about to be washed and those who had just undergone the opera- 
tion. A man and w<5Dian attend above and below, and, quite 
regardless of their sex, every person was trjkig to prevail upon 
either of these attendants to let ^he old water out of the bath, and 
^o turn the hot and cold cocks which were to replenish it. Rest- 
lessness and anxiety were depicted in every countenance ; how- 
ever, in a few minutes, a calm having ensu^, the water was 
lieard r-ushing int© fiftee^n or sixteen batiis on each floor, Soon 
^gain the poor pair were badgered and -tormented by various 
voices, from trebles down to con/trabasso, ail calling them to stop 
the cocks. With a ihei^nometer m one hand, a great wooden 
shovel in the^other, and a face as wet as if it had just emerged 
from the water, each servant hurried from one bath to another, 
adjusting them all to about 25^ of Reaumur. Door after door 
w^as then heard to shut, and in a few minutes the passage became 
<Dnce again silent. A sort of wicker basket, containing a pan of 
4)urning embers, was afterwards given to any person who, for the 
tsake of enjoying warm towels, was willing to breathe poisonous 
carbonic acid gas. 

As soon as the patientt was ready to en^er Ms bath, the first 
feeling which crossed his naked mind, as he ^tood shivering on 
the brink, was a disinclination to dip even his foot into a mixture 
which looked about as thick as a horse-pond, and about the color 
'of mulkgitawny soap. However, liaving come as far as Langen- 
Schwalbach, there w^as nothing to say, but '' en avcmt ;" and so, 
descending the steps, I got into stuff so deeply colored with the 
red oxide of iron, that the body, when a couple of inches below 
the surface, was invisible. The temperature of the water felt 
neither hot nor cold ; but I was no sooner immersed in it than I 
felt it was evidently of a Strengthening, bracing natiir'C, and I 
<jould almost have fancied mysedf iying with a set of hides in a 
tan-pit. The half-hour whicli every day I was sentenced to spend 
ill this red decoction was by far the longest in the tw-enty-four 
tiours ; and I was always very glad when my chronometer^ which 
I regularly hung on a nail before my eyes, pointed permission to 
me to extricate myself from the mess. While the body was 
^oa^tan^, hardly knowing wliether to sink or swim, I found it was 



36 BUBBLES. 



very difficult for the mind to enjoy any sort of recreation, or to 
reflect for two minutes on any one subject ; and as, half shiver- 
ing, I lay watching the minute-hand of my dial, it appeared the 
slowest traveller in existence. 

These baths are said to be very apt to produce head-ache^ 
sleepiness, and other slightly apoplectic symptoms ; but surely 
such effects must proceed from the silly habit of not immersing 
the head. The frame of man has beneficently been made capa- 
ble of existing under the line^ or near either of the poles of the 
earth. We know it can even live in an oven in which meat is> 
baking ; but surely, if it were possible to send one-half of the 
body to Iceland, while the other was reclining on the banks of 
Fernando Po, the trial would be exceedingly severe ; inasmuch 
as nature, never having contemplated such a vagary, has not 
thought it necessary to provide against it. In a less degree, the 
same argument applies to bathing, particularly in mineral waters ^ 
for even the common pressure of water on the portion of the body 
which is immersed in it, tends mechanically to push or force the 
blood towards that part (the head) enjoying a rarer medium ; but 
when it is taken into calculation that the mineral mixture of 
Schwalbach acts on the body not only mechanically, by pressure^ 
but medicinally, being a very strong astringent, there needs na 
wizard to account for the unpleasant sensations so often com- 
plained of. 

For the above reason, I resolved that my head should fare alike 
with the rest of my system ; in short, that it deserved to be 
strengthened as much as my limbs. It was equally old — had 
accompanied them in all tlieir little troubles ; and, moreover,. 
often and often, when they had sunk down to rest, had it been 
forced to contemplate and provide for the dangers and vicissitudes 
of the next day^ I therefore applied no half remedy — submitted 
to no partial operation — but resolved that if the waters of Langen- 
Schwalbach were to make me invulnerable, the box which held 
my brains should humbly, but equally, partake of the blessing. 

The way in which I bathed, with the reasons which induced 
me to do so, were mentioned to Dr. Fenner. He made no objec- 
tion, but in silence shrugged up his shoulders. However, the fact 
is, in this instance as well as in many others, he is obliged to pre- 



THE BATH. 37 



scribe no more than human nature is willing to comply with. 
And as Germans are not much in the habit of washing their 
heads, — and even if they were, as they would certainly refuse to 
dip their sculls into a mixture that stains the hair a deep red 
color, upon which common soap has not the slightest detergent 
effect, — the doctor probably feels that he would only lose his influ- 
ence were he publicly to undergo the defeat of being driven from 
a system which all his patients would agree to abominate ; in- 
deed, one has only to look at the ladies' flannel dresses which 
hang in the yard to dry, to read the truth of the above assertion. 

These garments having been several times immersed in the 
bath, are stained as deep a red as if they had been rubbed with 
ochre or brickdust ; yet the upper part of the flannel is quite as 
white, and indeed, by comparison, appears infinitely whiter than 
ever ; in short, without asking to see the owners, it is quite evi- 
dent that, at Schwalbach, young ladies, and even old ones, cannot 
make up their minds to stain any part of their mysterious fabric 
which towers above their evening gowns ; and, though the rest of 
their lovely persons are as red as the limbs of the American In- 
dian, yet their faces and cheeks bloom like the roses of York and 
Lancaster ; but laying all flannel arguments aside, the effect of 
these waters on the skin is so singular, that one has only to wit- 
ness it to understand that it would be useless for the poor village 
doctor to prescribe to ladies more than a pie-bald application of the 
remedy. 

Although, of course, in coming out of the bath, the patient rubs 
himself dry, and apparently perfectly clean, yet the rust, by ex- 
ercise, comes out so profusely, that not only is the linen of those 
people who bathe stained, but even their sheets are similarly dis- 
colored ; the dandy's neckcloth becomes red ; and when the head 
has been immersed, the pillow in the morning looks as if a rusty 
thirteen-inch shell had been reposing on iu. 

To the servanc who has cleaned the bath, filled it, and supplied 
it with towels, it is customary to give each day six kreuzers, 
amounting to twopence ; and as another example of the cheap- 
ness of German luxuries, I may observe, that if a person chooses, 
instead of walking, to be carried in a sedan-chair, and brought 



38 BUBBLES. 



back to his Hof, the price fixed for the two journeys is three- 
pence. 

Having now taken my bath, the next part of my daily sentence 
was, " to return to the place from whence I came, and there ^' to 
drink two more glasses of water from the Pauline. The weather 
having been unusually hot, in walking to the bath, I wa^ gene- 
rally very much overpowered by the heat of the sun ; but on 
leaving the mixture to walk to the Pauline, I always felt as if his 
rays were not as strong as myself; I really fancied that they 
glanced from my frame as from a polished cuirass ; and, far from 
suffering, I enjoyed the walk, always remarking that the cold 
evaporation proceeding from wet hair formed an additional reason 
for preventing the blood from rushing upwards. The glass of 
cold sparkling water which, under the mid-day sun, I received 
after quitting the bath, from the healthy looking old goddess of 
the Pauline, was delicious beyond the powers of description. It 
was infinitely more refreshing than iced soda water, and the idea 
that it was doing good instead of harm — that it was medicine, not 
luxury, added to it a flavor which the mind, as well as the body, 
seemed to enjoy. 

What with the iron in my skin, the rust in my hair, and the 
warmth which this strengthening mixture imparted to my waist- 
coat, I always felt an unconquerable inclination to face the hill ; 
and, selecting a different path from the one I had taken in the 
morning, I seldom stopped until I had reached the tip-top of one 
of the many eminences which overhang the promenade and its 
heau 7?ionde, 

The climate of this high table-land was always invigorating ; 
and although the sun was the same planet which was scorching 
the saunterers in the valley beneath, yet its rays did not take the 
same hold upon the rare, subtle mountain air. 

At this hour the peasants had descended into the town to dine. 
The fields were, consequently, deserted ; yet it was pleasing to 
see where they had been toiling, and how much of the corn they 
had cut since yesterday. I derived pleasure from looking at the 
large heap of potatoes they had been extracting, and from observ- 
ing that they had already begun to plough the stubble which only 
two days ago had been standing corn. Though neither man, wo- 



THE BATH. 39 



mail; nor child were to be seen, it was, nevertheless, quite evident 
that they could only just have vanished ; and though I had no 
fellow-creature to converse with, yet I enjoyed an old-fashioned 
pleasure in tracing on the ground marks where at least human 
beings had been. 

Quite by myself I was loitering on these heights, when I heard 
the troop of Langen-Schwalbach cows coming through the great 
wood on my left ; and wanting, at the moment, something to do, 
diving into the forest I soon succeeded in joining the gang. They 
were driven by a man and a woman, who received for every cow 
under their care forty-two kreuzers, or fourteen pence, for the six 
summer months : for this humble remuneration they drove the 
cows of Schwalbach every morning into the great woods, to enjoy 
air and a very little food ; three times a-day they conducted them 
home to be milked, and in the evening as often re-ascended to the 
forest. At the hours of assembling, the man blew a long, crooked, 
tin horn, which the cows and their proprietors equally well under- 
stood. Everybody must be aware, that it is not a very easy job 
to keep a set of cows together in a forest, as the young ones, espe- 
cially, are always endeavoring to go astray ; however, the two 
guides had each a curious sort of instrument by which they 
managed to keep them in excellent subjection. It consisted of a 
heavy stick about two feet long, with six iron rings, so placed 
that they could be shaken up and down ; and, certainly, if it were 
to be exhibited at Smithfield, no being there, human or inhuman, 
would ever guess that it was invented for driving cows ; and 
were he even to be told so, he would not conceive how it could 
possibly be used for that purpose. Yet, in Nassau, it is the 
regular engine for propelling cattle of every description. 

In driving the cows through the wood, I observed that the man and 
woman each kept on one flank, the herd leisurely proceeding before 
them ; but if any of the cows attempted to stray — if any of them 
presumed to lie down — or if any of them appeared to be in too 
earnest conversation with a great lumbering creature of her own 
species, distinguished by a ring through his nose, and a bright 
iron chain round his neck, the man, and especially the woman, 
gave two or three shakes with the rings, and if that lecture was 
not sufficient, the stick, rings and all, flew through the air, inflict- 



40 BUBBLES. 



ing a blow which really appeared sufficient to break a rib, and 
certainly much more than sufficient to dislodge an eye. 

It was easy to calculate the force of this uncouth weapon, by 
the fear the poor animals entertained of it ; and I observed, that 
no sooner did the woman shake it at an erring, disobedient cow, 
than the creature at once gave up the point, and hurried for- 
wards. 

In the stillness of the forest, nothing could sound wilder than 
the sudden rattling of these rings^ and almost could one fancy that 
beings in chains were running between the trees. A less severe 
discipline would, probably, not be sufficient. However, I must 
record that the severity was exercised with a considerable pro- 
portion of discretion ; for I particularly remarked that, when cows 
were in a certain interesting situation, their rude drivers, with 
unerring aim, always pelted them on the hocks. 

Leaving the cows, and descending the mountain's side, I stroll- 
ed through the little mountain hamlet of Wambach. In the mid- 
dle of this simple retreat, there stood, overtopping most of the 
other dwellings, a tall slender hut, on the thatched roof of which 
was a wooden pent-house, containing a bell, which, three times 
a-day, tolled for reveille, noon-tide meal, and curfew. As the hu- 
man tongue speaks by the impulse of the mind, so did this humble 
clapper move in obedience to the dictates of a village watch, which, 
when out of order, the parish was bound to repair. 

From the upper windows of the principal house, I saw suspend- 
ed festoons or strings of apples cut in slices, and exposed to the 
sun to dry. A lad, smoking his pipe, was driving his mother's 
cow to fetch grass from the valley. Women, with pails in their 
hands, were proceeding towards the spring for water ; others 
were returning to their homes heavily laden with fagots, while 
several of their idle children were loitering about before their 
doors. 

But, as I had still another dose of water to drink from the Pau- 
line, I hastened to the brunnen, and having emptied my glass 
(which, like the outside of a bottle of iced water, was instanta- 
neously covered by condensation with dew), I found that it was 
time to prepare myself (as I beg leave to prepare my reader) for 
that very lengthy ceremony — a German dinner. 



THE DINNER. 41 



THE DINNER. 



During the fashionable season at Langen-Schwalbach, the dinner 
hour at all the Saals is one o'clock. From about noon scarcely a 
stranger is to be seen ; but a few minutes before the bell strikes 
one, the town exhibits a picture curious enough, when it is con- 
trasted with the simple costume of the villagers, and the wild- 
looking country which surrounds them. From all the hofs and 
lodging houses, a set of demure, quiet-looking, well-dressed peo- 
ple are suddenly disgorged, who, at a sort of funeral pace, slowly 
advance towards the Allee Saal, the Goldene Kette, the Kaiser 
Saal, and one or two other houses, ou Von dine. The ladies are 
not dressed in bonnets, but in caps, most of which are quiet, the 
rest being of those indescribable shapes which are to be seen in 
London or Paris. Whether the stifF-stand-up frippery of bright- 
red ribands was meant to represent a house on fire, or purgatory 
itself — whether those immense white ornaments were intended for 
reefs of coral or not — it is out of my department even to guess — 
ladies' caps being riddles only to be explained by themselves. 

With no one to affront them — with no fine powdered footman to 
attend them — with nothing but their appetites to direct them — and 
with their own quiet conduct to protect them — old ladies, young 
ladies, elderly gentlemen, and young ones, were seen slowly and 
silently picking their way over the rough pavement. There was 
no greediness in their looks ; nor, as they proceeded, did they lick 
their lips, or show any other signs of possessing any appetite at 
all ; they looked much more as if they were coming from a meal, 
than going to one : in short, they seemed to be thinking of any- 
thing in the dictionary but the word dinner. And when one con- 
trasted or weighed the quietness of their demeanor against the 



42 BUBBLES. 



enormous quantity of provisions they were placidly about to con- 
sume, one could not help admitting that these Germans had cer- 
tainly more self-possession, and could better muzzle their feelings, 
than many of the best-behaved people in the universe. 

Seated at the table of the AUee Saal, I counted a hundred and 
eighty people at dinner in one room. To say, in a single word, 
whether the fare was good or bad, would be quite impossible, it 
being so completely different to anything ever met with in 
England. 

To my simple taste, the cooking is most horrid ; still there 
were now and then some dishes, particularly sweet ones, which 1 
thought excellent. With respect to the made-dishes, of which 
there v/as a great variety, I beg to offer to the reader a formula I 
invented, which will teach him (should he ever come to Germany) 
what to expect. The simple rule is this : — Let him taste the dish, 
and if it be not sour, he may be quite certain that it is greasy ; — 
again, if it be not greasy, let him not eat thereof, for then it is 
sure to be sour. With regard to the order of the dishes, that, too, 
is unlike anything v/hich Mrs. Glasse ever thought of. After 
soup, which all over the world is the alpha of the gourmand's 
alphabet, the barren meat from which the said soup has been ex- 
tracted is produced. Of course it is dry, tasteless, withered- look- 
ing stuff, which a Grosvenor-square cat would not touch with its 
whisker ; but this dish is always attended by a couple of satellites 
— the one a quantity of cucumbers dressed in vinegar, the other 
a black greasy sauce : and if you dare to accept a piece of this 
flaccid beef, you are instantly thrown between Scylla and Cha- 
rybdis ; for so sure as you decline the indigestible cucumber, 
souse comes into your plate a deluge of the greasy sauce ! After 
the company have eaten heavily of messes which it would be im- 
possible to describe, in comes some nice salmon — then fowls — then 
puddings — then meat again — then stewed fruit ; and after the 
English stranger has fallen back in his chair quite beaten, a leg 
of mutton majestically makes its appearance ! 

I dined just two days at the Saals, and then bade adieu to them 
for ever. Nothing which this world affords could induce me to 
feed in this gross manner. The pig who lives in his sty would 
have some excuse ; but it is really quite shocking to see any other 



THE DINNER. 43 



animal overpowering himself at mid-day with such a mixture and 
superabundance of food. Yet only think what a compliment all 
this is to the mineral waters of Langen-Schwalbach ; for if peo- 
ple who come here, and live in this way morning, noon, and night, 
can, as 1 really believe they do, return to their homes in better 
health than they departed, how much more benefit ought any one 
to derive, who, maintaining a life of simplicity and temperance, 
would resolve to give them a fair trial ? In short, if the cold 
iron waters of the Pauline can be of real rerviceto a stomach full 
of vinegar and grease, how much more effectually ought they to 
tinker up and repair the inside of him who has sense enough to 
sue them in forma pauperis f 

Dr. Fenner was told that I had given up dining in public, as I 
preferred a single dish at home ; and he was then asked, with a 
scrutinizing look, whether eating so much was not surely very 
bad for those who were drinking the waters ? The poor doctor 
quietly shrugged up his shoulders, — silently looking at his shoes, 
— and what else could he have done ? Himself an inhabitant of 
Langen-Schwalbach, of course he was obliged to feel the pulse of 
his own fellow-citizens, as well as that of the stranger ; and into 
what a fever would he have thrown all the innkeepers — what a 
convulsion would he have occasioned in the village itself — were 
he to have presumed to prescribe temperance to those wealthy 
visitors by whose gross intemperance the community hoped to 
prosper ! He might as well have gone into the fields to burn the 
crops, as thus wickedly to blight the golden harvest which 
Langen-Schwalbach had calculated on reaping during the short 
visit of its consumptive guests. 

Our dinner is now over ; but I must not rise from the table of 
the AUee Saal, until I have made an ' amende honorable^ to those 
against whose vile cooking I have been railing, for it is only 
common justice to German society to offer an humble testimony 
that nothing can be more creditable to any nation : one can 
scarcely imagine a more pleasing picture of civilized life, than 
the mode in which society is conducted at these watering-places. 

The company which comes to the brunnens for health, and 
v/hich daily assembles at dinner, is of a most heterogeneous de- 
scription, being composed of Princes, Dukes, Barons, Counts, &c., 



44 BUBBLES. 



clown to the petty shopkeeper, and even the Jew of Frankfort, 
Mainz, and other neighboring towns ; in short, all the most jar- 
ring elements of society, at the same moment, enter the same room, 
to partake together the same one shilling and eight-penny dinner. 

Even to a stranger like myself, it was easy to perceive that the 
company, as they seated themselves round the table, had herded 
together in parties and coteries, neither acquainted with each 
other, nor with much disposition to be acquainted — still, all those 
invaluable forms of society which connect the guests of any pri- 
vate individual were most strictly observed ; and, from the natural 
good sense and breeding in the country, this happy combination 
was apparently effected without any effort. No one seemed to 
be under any restraint, yet there was no freezing formality at one 
end of the table, nor rude boisterous mirth at the other. With as 
honest good appetites as could belong to any set of people under 
the sun, I particularly remarked that there was no scrambling for 
favorite dishes ; — to be sure, here and there an eye was seen 
twinkling a little brighter than usual, as it watched the progress 
of any approaching dish which appeared to be unusually sour or 
greasy, but there was no greediness, no impatience, and nothing 
which seemed for a single moment to interrupt the general har- 
mony of the scene ; and, though I scarcely heard a syllable of 
the buzz of conversation which surrounded me ; although every 
moment I felt less and less disposed to attempt to eat what for 
some time had gradually been coagulating in my plate ; yet, 
leaning back in my chair, I certainly did derive very great plea- 
sure, and I hope a very rational enjoyment, in looking upon so 
pleasing a picture of civilized life. 

In England we are too apt to designate, by the general term 
" society," the particular class, clan, or clique in which we our- 
selves may happen to move, and if that little speck be sufficiently 
polished, people are generally quite satisfied with what they term 
" the present state of society ;" yet there exists a very important 
difference between this ideal civilisation of a part or parts of a 
community, and the actual civilisation of the community as a 
whole ; and surely no country can justly claim for itself that title, 
until not only can its various members move separately among 
each other, but until, if necessary, they can all meet and act 



THE DINNER. 45 



together. Now, if this assertion be admitted, I fear it cannot be 
denied that we islanders are very far from being as highly polished 
as our continental neighbors, and that we but too often mistake 
odd provincial habits of our own invention, for the broad, useful 
current manners of the world. 

In England, each class of society, like our different bands of 
trades, is governed by its own particular rules. There is a class 
of society which has very gravely, and for aught I care very pro- 
perly, settled that certain food is to be eaten with a fork — that 
others are to be launched into the mouth with a spoon ; and that 
to act against these rules (or whims), shows " that the man has 
not lived in the world,^^ At the other end of society there are, 
one has heard, also rules of honor, prescribing the sum to be put 
into a tin money-box, so often as the pipe shall be filled with 
tobacco, with various other laws of the same dark caste or com- 
plexion. These conventions, however, having been firmly esta- 
blished among each of the many classes into which our country 
people are subdivided, a very considerable degree of order is 
everywhere maintained ; and, therefore, let a foreigner go into 
any sort of society in England, and he will find it is apparently 
living in happy obedience to its own laws ; but if any chance or 
convulsion brings these various classes of society each laden with 
its ov/n laws, into general contact, a sort of Babel confusion 
instantly takes place, each class loudly calling its neighbor to 
order in a language it cannot comprehend. Like the followers 
of different religions, the one has been taught a creed which has 
not even been heard of by the other ; there is no sound bond of 
union — no reasonable understanding between the parties : in 
short, they resemble a set of regiments, each of which having been 
drilled according to the caprice or fancy of its colonel, appears in 
very high order on its own parade, yet, when all are brought 
together, form an unorganized and undisciplined army : and in 
support of this theory, is it not undeniably true, that it is practi- 
cally impossible for all ranks of society to associate together in 
England with the same ease and inoffensive freedom which cha- 
racterize similar meetings on the continent ? And yet a German 
duke or a German baron is as proud of his rank, and rank is as 
much respected in his country as it is in our country. 



46 BUBBLES. 



There must, therefore, in England exist somewhere or other a 
radical fault. The upper classes will of course lay the blame 
on the lowest — the lowest will abuse the highest — but may not 
the error lie between the two ? Does it not rather rest upon 
both ? and is it not caused by the laws which regulate our small 
island society being odd, unmeaning, imaginary, and often fic- 
titious, instead of being stamped with those large intelligible cha- 
racters which miake them at once legible to all the inhabitants 
of the globe ? 

For instance, on the continent, every child, almost before he 
learns his alphabet, before he is able even to crack a whip, is 
taught what is termed in Europe civility, a trifling example of 
which I witnessed this very morning. At nearly a league from 
Langen-Schwalbach, I walked up to a little boy who was flying a 
kite on the top of a hill, in the middle of a field of oat stubble. 
I said not a word to the child — scarcely looked at him — but as 
soon as I got close to him, the little village clod, who had never 
breathed anything thicker than his own mountain air, actually 
almost lost string, kite and all, in an effort quite irresistible 
which he made to bow to me, and take off his hat. Again, in 
the middle of the forest, I saw the other day three laboring 
boys laughing together, each of their mouths being, if possible, 
wider open than the others ; however, as they separated, off 
went their caps, and they really took leave of each other in the 
very same sort of manner with which I yesterday saw the Land- 
grave of Hesse Homburg return a bow to a common postilion. 

It is this general, well-founded, and acknowledged system 
which binds together all classes of society. It is this useful, 
sensible system which enables the master of the Allee Saal, as 
he walks about the room during dinner-time, occasionally to 
converse with the various descriptions of guests who have ho- 
nored his table with their presence ; for, however people in Eng- 
land would be shocked at such an idea, on the continent, so long 
as a person speaks and behaves correctly, he need not fear to give 
any one offence. 

Now in England, as we all know, we have all sorts of man- 
ners, and a man actually scarcely dares to say which is the true 
idol to be worshipped. We have very noble aristocratic man- 



THE DINNER. 47 



iiers ; we have the short, stumpy manners of the old-fashioned 
English country gentleman ; we have sick, dandified manners ; 
black-stock military manners ; " your free and easy mariners " 
(which, by-the-bye, on the continent, would be translated '^ no 
manners at all).'^ We have the ledger, calf-skin manners of a 
steady man of business ; the last imported monkey or ultra-Pari- 
sian manners ; manners not only of a school-boy, but of the par- 
ticular school to which he belongs ; and lastly, we have the parti- 
colored manners of the mobility, who, until they were taught the 
contrary, very falsely flattered themselves that on the throne they 
would find the " ship, a-hoy !" manners of a " true British sailor." 

Now, with respect to these motley manners, these " black spi- 
rits and white, blue spirits and grey," which are about as differ- 
ent from each other as the manners of the various beasts collected 
by Noah in his ark, it may at once be observed, that (however we 
ourselves may admire them) there are very few of them indeed 
which are suited to the continent ; and, consequently, though Rus- 
sians, Prussians, Austrians, French and Italians, to a certain de- 
cree, can anywhere assimilate together, yet, somehow or other, our 
manners — (never mind whether better or worse) — are different. 
Which, therefore, I am seriously disposed to ask of myself, are 
the most likely to be right ? the manners of " the right little, tight 
little island," or those of the inhabitants of the vast continent of 
i Europe ? 

The reader will, 1 fear, think that my dinner reflections have 
partaken of the acidity of the German mess which lay so long 
before me untouched in my plate ; and at my observations I fully 
expect he will shake his head, as I did when, afterwards, expect- 
ing to get something sweet, I found my mouth nearly filled with 
a substance very nearly related tc sourcrout. Should the old 
man's remarks be unpalatable, they are not more so than was his 
meal ; and he begs to apologize for them by saying, that had he, 
as he much wished, been able to eat, he would not, against his 
lAli, have been driven to reflect. 



48 BUBBLES. 



THE PROMENADE, 



A FEW minutes after the dessert had been placed on the table of 
the Allee Saal, one or two people from different chairs rose and 
glided away ; then up got as many more, until, in about a quarter 
of an hour, the whole company had quietly vanished, excepting 
here and there, around the vast circumference of the table, a cou- 
ple, who, not having yet finished their phlegmatic, long-winded 
argument, sat like pairs of oxen, with their heads yoked together. 

It being only three o'clock in the day, and as people did not 
begin to drink the waters again till about six, there was a long, 
heavy interval, which was spent very much in the way in which 
English cows pass their time when quite full of fine red clover, — 
bending their fore knees, they lie down on the grass to ruminate. 

As it was very hot at this hour, the ladies, in groups of two, 
three and four, with coffee before them on small square tables, sat 
out together in the open air, under the shade of the trees. Most 
of them commenced knitting ; but, at this plethoric hour, I could 
not help observing that they made several hundred times as many 
stitches as remarks. A few of the young men, with cigars in 
their mouths, meandered, in dandified silence, through these par- 
ties of ladies ; but almost all the German lords of the creation 
had hidden themselves in holes and corners, to enjoy smoking 
their pipes ; and surely nothing can be more filthy — nothing can 
be a greater w^aste of time and intellect than this horrid habit. 
If tobacco were even a fragrant perfume, instead of stinking as 
it does, still the habit which makes it necessary to a human being 
to carry a large bag in one of his coat-pockets, and an unwieldy 
crooked pipe in the other, would be unmanly ; inasmuch as, be- 
sides creating an artificial want, it encumbers him with a real 



THE PROMENADE. 49 



burden, which, both on horseback and on foot, impedes his activity 
and his progress ; but when it turns out that this said artificial 
want is a nasty, vicious habit — when it is impossible to be clean 
if you indulge in it — ^when it makes your hair and clothes smell 
most loathsomely — when you absolutely pollute the fresh air as 
you pass through it ; when, besides all this, it corrodes the teeth, 
injures the stomach, and fills with red inflammatory particles the 
naturally cool, clear, white brain of man, it is quite astonishing 
that these Germans, who can act so sensibly during so many hours 
of the day, should not have strength of mind enough to trample 
their tobacco-bags under their feet — throwing their reeking, sooty 
pipes behind them, and learn (I will not say from the English, but 
from every bird and animal in a state of nature) to be clean : and 
certainly whatever faults there may be in our manners, our clean- 
liness is a virtue which above every nation / have ever visited, 
pre-eminently distinguishes us in the world. 

During the time which was spent in this stinking vice, I ob- 
served that people neither interrupted each other, nor did they 
very much like to be interrupted ; in short, it was a sort of siesta 
with the eyes open, and with smoke coming out of the mouth. 
Sometimes gazing out of the window of his Hof, I saw a German 
baron, in a tawdry dressing-gown and scull-cap (with an immense 
ring on his dirty forefinger), smoking, and pretending to be think- 
ing ; sometimes I winded a creature, who, in a similar attitude, 
was seated on the shady benches near the Stahl brunnen ; but 
these were only exceptions to the general rule, for most of the 
males had vanished, one knew not where, to convert themselves 
into automatons, which had all the smoky nuisance of the steam- 
engine — without its power. 

At about half-past five or six o'clock, " the world" began to 
come to life again ; the ladies with their knitting needles lying in 
their laps, gradually began to talk to each other, some even at- 
tempting to laugh. Group rising after group, left the small white 
painted tables and empty coffee-cups round which they had been 
sitting, and in a short time, the walks to the three brunnens in 
general, and to the Pauline in particular, were once again 
thronged with people ; and as slowly, and very slowly, they 



50 BUBBLES, 



walked backwards and forwards, one again saw German society 
in its most amiable and delightful point of view. 

A few of the ladies, particularly those who had young children^ 
were occasionally accompanied through the day by a nice steady, 
healthy-looking young woman, whose dress (being without cap or 
bonnet, with a plain cloth shawl thrown over a dark cotton gown) 
at once denoted that she was a servant. The distinction in lier 
dress was marked in the extreme, yet it was pleasing to see that 
there was no necessity to carry it farther, the woman appearing 
to be so well behaved, that there was little fear of her giving of- 
fence. Whenever her mistress stopped to talk to any of her 
friends, this attendant became a harmless listener to the conver- 
sation, and when a couple of families, seated on a bank, were 
amusing each other with jokes and anecdotes, one saw by the 
countenances of these quiet-looking young people, who were also 
permitted to sit down, that they were enjoying the story quite as 
much as the rest. 

In England, people would of course be shocked at the idea of 
thus associating with, or rather sitting in society with their ser- 
vants, and on account of the manners of our servants it certainly 
would not be agreeable ; however, if we had but one code, instead 
of having one hundred and fifty thousand (for I quite forgot to 
insert in my long list the manners of a fashionable lady's maid), 
this would not be the case ; for then English servants, like Ger- 
man servants, would learn to sit in the presence of their superiors 
without giving any offence at all. But besides observing how 
harmlessly these German menials conducted themselves, I must 
own I could not help reflecting what an advantage it was, not 
only to them, but to the humble hovel to which, when they mar- 
ried, they would probably return — in short, to society, that they 
should have had an opportunity of witnessing the conduct, and of 
listening to the conversation of quiet, sensible, moral people, who 
had had the advantages of a good education. 

Of course, if these young people were placed on high wages — 
tricked out with all the cast-off finery of their mistresses — and if 
laden with these elements of corruption, and hopelessly banished 
from the presence of their superiors, they were day after day, and 
night after night, to be stewed up together with stewards, butlers, 



THE PROMENADE. 51 



&;c., in the devil's frying-pan — I mean, that den of narrow- 
minded iniquity, a house-keeper's room — of course, these strong, 
bony, useful servants would very soon dress as finely, and give 
themselves all those airs for which an English lady's maid is so 
celebrated even in her own country ; but in Germany, good sense 
and poverty have as yet firmly and rigidly prescribed, not only 
the dress which is to distinguish servants from their masters, but 
that, with every rational indulgence, with every liberal opportu- 
nity of raising themselves in their own estimation, they shall be 
fed and treated in a manner and according to a scale, which, 
though superior, still bears a due relation to the humble station 
and habits in which they were born and bred. Of course, ser- 
vants trained in this manner cost very little, yet if they are not 
natually ill-disposed, there is everything to encourage them in 
good behavior, with little to lead them astray. They are cer- 
tainly not, like our servants, clothed in satin, fine linen, and 
superfine cloth ; nor, like Dives himself, do they fare sumptuously 
every day ; but I believe they are all the happier, and infinitely 
more at their ease, for being kept to their natural station in life, 
instead of being permitted to ape an appearance for which their 
education has not fitted them, or repeat fine slip-slop sentiments 
which they do not understand. 

However, it is not our servants who deserve to be blamed ; they 
are quite right to receive high wages, wear veils, kid gloves, 
superfine cloth, give themselves airs, mock the manners of their 
lords and ladies, and to farcify below stairs the " comedy of 
errors" which they catch an occasional glimpse of above ; in 
short, to do as little, consume as much, and be as expensive and 
troublesome as possible. No liberal person can blame them, but 
it is, I fear, on our heads that all their follies must rest ; we have 
no one but ourselves to blame, and until a few of the principal 
families in England, for the credit and welfare of the country, 
agree together to lower the style and habits of their servants, and 
by a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, to break the 
horrid system which at present prevails, — the distinction between 
the honest ploughman, who whistles along the fallow, and his white- 
faced, powdered-headed, silver-laced, scarlet-breeched, golden- 
gartered brother in London, must be as strikingly ridiculous as 



52 BUBBLES. 



ever : the one must remain an honor, tie other a discredit, to the 
wealth of a country which (we all say unjustly) has been called 
by its enemy a "nation of shopkeepers." 

If once the system were to be blown up, thousands of honest, 
well-meaning servants would, I believe, rejoice ; and while the 
aristocracy and wealthier classes would in fact be served at least 
as well as ever, the middle ranks, and especially all people of 
small incomes, would be relieved beyond description from an 
unnatural and unnecessary burden which but too often embitters 
all their little domestic arrangements. There can be no points 
of contrast between Germany and England more remarkable 
than that, in the one country, people of all incomes are supported 
and relieved in proportion to the number of their servants, while 
in the other they are tormented and oppressed. Again, that in 
the one country, servants humbly dressed, and humbly fed, live 
in a sort of exalted and honorable intercourse with their masters ; 
while, in the other, servants highly powdered and grossly fed, 
are treated de haul en has, in a manner which is not to be seen 
on the Continent. 

The enormous wealth of England is the commercial wonder 
of the world, yet every reflecting man who looks at our debt, at 
the immense fortunes of individuals, and at the levelling, unprin- 
cipled, radical spirit of the age, must see that there exists among 
us elements which may possibly some day or other furiously ap- 
pear in collision. The great country may yet live to see distress ; 
and in the storm, our commercial integrity, like an overweighted 
vessel, may, for aught we know, founder and go down, stern fore- 
most. I therefore most earnestly say, should this calamity ever 
befall us, let not foreigners be entitled, in preaching over our 
graves, to pronounce, " that we were a people who did not know 
how to enjoy prosperity — that our money, like our blood, flew to 
our heads — that our riches corrupted our minds — and that it was 
absolutely our enormous wealth which sunk us." 

Without saying one other word, I will only again ask, is it or 
is it not the interest of our upper classes to countenance this island 
system ? 

Should it be argued, that they ought not to be blamed because 
vulgar, narrow-minded people are foolish enough to ruin them- 



THE PROMENADE. 53 



selves in a vain attempt to copy them, 1 reply, that they must 
take human nature, good and bad, not as it ought to be, but as it 
is ; and that, after all, it is no bad compliment to the high station 
they hold, that the middle and lower classes will absolutely ruin 
themselves in overfeeding and overdressing their servants — in 
short, in following any bad example which such high authority 
may irrationally decree to be fashionable. But to return to the 
Promenade. 

From everlastingly vibrating backwards and forwards on this 
walk, one gets so well acquainted with the faces of one's comrades, 
that it is easy to note the arrival of any stranger, who, however, 
after having made two or three turns, is considered as received 
into, and belonging to, the ambulatory community. 

In constantly passing the people on the promenade, I occa- 
sionally heard a party talking French. During the military 
dominion of Napoleon, that language, of course, flooded the whole 
of the high duchy of Nassau as completely as almost the rest of 
Europe : a strong ebb of reaction, however, has of late years 
taken place ; and in Prussia, for instance, the common people do 
not now like even to hear the language pronounced. On the 
other hand, thanks to Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, and other 
worn-out literary laborers, now resting in their graves, our lan- 
guage is beginning to make an honest progress; and even in 
France it is becoming fashionable to display in society a literary 
flower or two culled from that North border, the Jardin Anglais. 

As a passing stranger, the word I heard pronounced on the 
promenade the oftenest was " Ja ! Ja !" and it really seemed to 
me that German women to all questions invariably answer in the 
aflarmative, for '^ Ja ! Ja !" was repeated by them, I know, from 
morning till night, and, for aught I know, from night till morning. 

As almost every stranger at Langen-Schwalbach, as well as 
several of its inhabitants, were at this hour on the Promenade, 
the three bruni^ens were often surrounded by more open mouths 
. than the women in attendance could supply. The old mother at 
the Pauline was therefore always assisted in the evening by her 
daughter, who, without being at all handsome, was, like her parent, 
a picture of robust, ruddy health ; and to poor withered people, 
who came to them to drink, it was very satisfactory indeed to see 



54 BUBBLES. 



the practical effect which swallowing and baling out this water 
from morning till night had had on these two females ; and as 
they stood in the burning sun bending downwards into the brunnen, 
to fill the glasses which in all directions converged towards them, 
it was curious to observe the different description of people who 
from every point of Europe (except England) had surrounded one 
little well. As I earnestly looked at their various figures and 
faces, I could not help feeling that it was quite impossible for the 
goddess Pauline to cure them all : for I saw a tall, gaunt, brown, 
hard-featured, lantern-jawed officer, a demi solde, the sort of fellow 
that the French call ^' un gros maigre^^^ drinking by the side of a 
red- faced, stuffy, stumpy, stunted little man, who seemed made 
on purpose to demonstrate that the human figure, like the tele- 
scope, could be made portable. " What in the world (I 
mumbled to myself) can be the matter with that very nice, fresh, 
comfortable, healthy-looking widow ? Or what does that huge, 
unwieldy man in the broad-brimmed hat require from the 
Pauline ? — Surely he is already about as full as he can hold ? 
And that poor sick girl, who has just borrowed the glass from her 
withered, wrinkled, skinny, little aunt ? . Can the same prescrip- 
tion be good for them both ? A couple of nicely-dressed children 
are extending their little glasses to drink water with milk : and see ! 
that gang of countrymen, who have stopped their carts on the 
upper road, are racing and chasing each other down the bank to 
crowd round the brunnen ! Is it not curious to observe that in 
such a state of perspiration they can drink such deadly cold water 
with impunity ? But this really is the case ; and whether it is 
burning hot, or raining a deluge, this simple medicine is always 
agreeable, and no sooner is it swallowed, than, like the fire in the 
grate, it begins to warm its new mansion." 

Such was the scene, and such was the effect, daily witnessed 
round one of nature's simplest and most beneficent remedies. All 
the drinkers seemed to be satisfied with the water, which, I believe, 
has only one virtue, that of strengthening the stomach ; yet it is 
this solitary quality which has made it cure almost every possible 
disorder of body and mind : for though people with an ankle 
resting on a knee sometimes mysteriously pointed to their toes, 
and sometimes as solemnly laid their hands upon their foreheads. 



THE PROMENADE. 55 



yet I rather believe that almost every malady to which the human 
frame is subject, is either by highways or byways connected with 
the stomach ; and I must own 1 never see a fashionable physician 
mysteriously counting tiie pulse of a plethoric patient, or, with a 
silver spoon on his tongue, importantly looking down his red, 
inflamed gullet (so properly termed by Johnson " the meat-pipe "), 
but I feel a desire to exclaim, " Why not tell the poor gentleman 
at once— Sir / you^ve eaten too much, you^ve drunk too much, and 
you've not taken exercise enough /" That these are the main causes 
of almost every one's illness, there can be no greater proof, than 
that those savage nations which live actively and temperately have 
only one great disorder — -death. The human frame was not 
created imperfect — -it is we ourselves who have made it so ; there 
exists no donkey in creation so overladen as our stomachs, and it is 
because tliey groan under the weight so cruelly imposed upon 
them, that we see people driving them before them in herds to 
drink at one little brunnen. 

A list of the strangers visiting Bad-Ems, Langen-Schwalbach, 
and Schlangenbad, is published twice a week, and circulated on 
all the promenades. From it, I find that there are 1200 visitors 
at Schwalbach alone — an immense number for so small a place. 
Still, the habits of the people are so quiet, that it does not at all 
bear the appearance of an English watering-place, and certainly 
I never before existed in a society where people are left so com- 
pletely to go their own ways. Whether I stroll up and down the 
Promenade or about the town, whether I mount the hill or ramble 
into distant villages, no one seems to notice me any more than if 
I had been born there; and yet out of the 1200 strangers, I 
happened to be the only specimen to be seen of Old England. 
No one knows that I have given up feasting in public, for it is not 
the custom to dine always at the same house, but when one o'clock 
comes, people go to the AUee Saal, Goldene Kette, &;c., just as 
they feel disposed at the moment. 

There are no horses to be hired at Schwalbach, but a profusion 
of donkeys and mules. It is a pretty, gaudy sight to witness a 
group of these animals carrying ladies in their parti-colored 
bonnets, &c., descending one of the hills. The saddles are 
covered vvith coarse scarlet, or bright blue cloth, and the donkey 



56 BUBBLES. 

always wears a fine red brow-band ; nevertheless, under these 
brilliant colors, to the eye of a cognoscent, it is too easy to perceive 
that the poor creatures are sick in their hearts of their finery, and 
that they are tired, almost unto death, of carrying one large 
curious lady after another to see Hohenstein, Adolfseck, and other 
lions, which without metaphor are actually consuming the car- 
casses of these unhappy asses. The other day I myself hired 
one, but nat being allowed to have the animal alone, I w£ls obliged 
to submit to be followed by the owner, who, by order of the Duke, 
was dressed in a blue smock-frock, girded by a bulF belt. 

I found I could not produce the slightest effect on the animal's 
pace, but that if the man behind me only shook his stick, down 
went the creature's long ears, and on we trotted. By this arrange- 
ment, I was hurried by objects which I wished to look at, and 
obliged to crawl before what I was exceedingly anxious to leave 
behind ; and altogether it was travelling so very much like a bag 
of sand, that ever since I hav3 much preferred propelling myselfl 



THE SCHWEIN-GEJMERAL 57 



THE SCHWEIN-GENERAL. 



Every morning, at half-past five o'clock, I hear, as I am dressing, 
the sudden blast of an immense long wooden horn, from which 
always proceed the same four notes. I have got quite accustom- 
ed to this wild reveille, and the vibration has scarcely subsided, 
it is still ringing among the distant hills, when, leisurely proceed- 
ing from almost every door in the street, behold a pig ! Some, 
from their jaded, careworn, dragged appearance, are evidently 
leaving behind them a numerous litter; others are great, tall, mo- 
nastic, melancholy-looking creatures, which seem to have no other 
object left in this wretched world than to become bacon ; while 
others are thin, tiny, light-hearted, brisk, petulant piglings, with 
the world and all its loves and sorrows before them. Of their 
own accord these creatures proceed down the street to join the 
herdsman, who occasionally continues to repeat the sorrowful 
blast from his horn. 

Gregarious, or naturally fond of society, with one curl in their 
tails, and with their noses almost touching the ground, the pigs 
trot on, grunting to themselves and to their comrades, halting only 
whenever they come to anything they can manage to swallow. 

I have observed that the old ones pass all the carcasses, which, 
trailing to the ground, are hanging before the butchers' shops, as 
if they were on a sort of parole dlionneur not to touch them ; the 
middle-aged ones wistfully eye this meat, yet jog on also, while 
the piglings, who (so like mankind) have more appetite than judg- 
ment, can rarely resist taking a nibble ; yet, no sooner does the 
dead calf begin again to move, than from the window immediately 
above out pops the head of a butcher^ who, drinking his coffee, 



58 BUBBLES. 



whip in hand, inflicts a prompt punishment, sounding quite equal 
to the offence. 

As I have stated, the pigs, generally speaking, proceed of their 
own accord ; but shortly after they have passed, there comes 
down our street a little bareheaded, barefooted, stunted dab of a 
child, about eleven years old, — a Flibbertigibbet sort of a creature, 
which, in a drawing, one would express by a couple of blots, the 
small one for her head, and the other for her body ; while, stream- 
ing from the latter, there would be a long line ending in a flour- 
ish, to express the immense whip which the child carries in its 
hand. This little goblin page, the whipper-in, attendant, or aide- 
de-camp of the old pig-driver, facetiously called, at Langen- 
Schwalbach, the " Schwein-general," is a being no one looks at, 
and who looks at nobody. Whether the Hofs of Schwalbach are 
full of strangers or empty — whether the promenades are occupied 
by princes or peasants — whether the weather be good or bad, hot 
or rainy, she apparently never stops to consider; upon these 
insignificant subjects it is evident she never for a moment has re- 
flected. But such a pair of eyes for a pig have perhaps seldom 
beamed from human sockets ! The little intelligent urchin knows 
every house from which a pig ought to have proceeded ; she can 
tell by the door being open or shut, and even by footmarks, 
whether the creature has joined the herd, or whether, having over- 
slept itself, it is still snoring in its sty — a single glance determines 
whether she shall pass a yard or enter it ; and if a pig, from indo- 
lence or greediness, be loitering on the road, the sting of the wasp 
cannot be sharper or more spiteful than the cut she gives it. As 
soon as, finishing with one street, she joins her General in the 
main road, the herd slowly proceed down the town. 

On meeting them this morning they really appeared to have no 
hams at all ; their bodies were as flat as if they had been squeez- 
ed in a vice ; and when they turned sideways, their long sharp 
noses, and tucked-up bellies, gave to their profile the appearance 
of starved greyhounds. 

As I gravely followed this grunting unearthly-looking herd of 
unclean spirits, through that low part of Langen-Schwalbach 
which is solely inhabited by Jews, I could not help fancying that 
I observed them holding their very breaths, as if a loathsome pes- 



THE SCHWEIN-GENERAL, 59 

lilenGe were passing ; for though fat pork be a wicked luxury — a 
forbidden pleasure which the Jew has been supposed occasionally 
in secret to indulge in — yet one may easily imagine that such 
very lean ugly pigs have not charms enough to lead them astray. 

Besides the little girl who brought up the rear, the herd was 
preceded by a boy of about fourteen, whose duty it was not to let 
the foremost, the more enterprising, or, in other words, the most 
empty pigs, advance too fast. In the middle of the drove, sur- 
rounded like a shepherd by his flock, slowly stalked the "Schwein- 
^ENERAL," a wan, spectre-looking old man, worn out, or nearly 
<so, by the arduous and e very-day duty of conducting, against 
their wills, a gang of exactly the mo^t obstinate animals in crea- 
tion. A single glance at his jaundiced, ill-natured countenance 
was sufficient to satisfy one that his temper had been soured by 
the vexatious contrarieties and " untoward events '' it had met 
with. In his left hand he held a staff to help himself onwards, 
while round his right shoulder hung one of the most terrific whips 
that could possibly be constructed. At the end of a short handle, 
turning upon a swivel, there was a lash about nine feet long, 
formed like the vertebrse of a snake, each joint being an iron ring, 
which, decreasing in size, was closely connected with its neigh- 
bor, by a band of hard greasy leather. The pliability, the weight, 
and the force of this iron whip rendered it an argument which the 
obstinacy even of the pig was enable to resist ; yet, as the old 
rman proceeded down the town, he endeavored to speak kindly to 
the herd, and as the bulk of them preceded him, jostling each 
other, grumbling and grunting on their way, 'he occasionally ex- 
claimed in a low, hollow, worn-^ut tone of encouragement, " Nina, 
Anina " (drawling of course very long on the last syllable). 

If any little savory morsel caused a contention, stoppage, or 
constipation on the marcti, the old fellow slowly unwound his 
dreadful whip, and by merely whirling it round his head, like 
reading the Riot Act, he generally succeeded in dispersing the 
crowd ; but if they neglected this solemn warnings if their 
stomachs proved stronger than their judgment, and if the group 
of greedy pigs still continued to stagnate — ^^Arriff!" the old 
fellow exclaimed, and rushing forwards, the lash whirling round 
Ills head, he inflicted, with strength which no one could have fan- 



60 BUBBLES', 



cied he possessed, a smack that seemed absolutely to electrify the 
leader. As lightning shoots across the heavens, I observed the 
culprit fly forwards, and for many yards, continued to sidle towards 
the left, it was quite evident that the thorn was still smarting in 
his side ; and no wonder, poor fellow I for the blow he received 
would almost have cut a piece out of a door. 

As soon as the herd got out of the town they began gradually 
to ascend the rocky, barren mountain which appeared towering 
above them ; and then the labors of the Schw ein-general and his 
staflT became greater than ever : for as the animals from their 
solid column began to extend or deploy themselves into line, it 
wa& necessary constantly to ascend and descend the slippery hill, 
in order to outflank them. " Arriff !" vociferated the old man, 
striding after one of his rebellious subjects ; " Arriff!" in a shrill 
tone of voice, was re-echoed by the lad, as he ran after another : 
however, in due time, the drove reached the ground which was 
devoted for that day's exercise, the whole mountain being thus 
taken in regular succession. 

The Schwein-general now halted, and the pigs being no longer 
called upon to advance, but being left entirely to their own notions, 
I became exceedingly anxious attentively to observe them. 

No wonder, poor reflecting creatures ! that they had come un- 
willingly to such a spot — for there appeared to be literally nothing 
for them to eat but hot stones and dust : however, making the best 
of the bargain, they all very vigorously set themselves to work. 
Looking up the hill, they dexterously began to lift up with their 
snouts the largest of the loose stones, and then grubbing their 
noses into the cool ground, I watched their proceedings for a very 
long time. Their tough wet snouts seemed to be sensible of the 
quality of everything they touched ; and thus out of the appar- 
ently barren ground they managed to get fibres of roots, to say 
nothing of worms, beetles, or any other travelling insects they 
met with. As they slowly advanced working up the hill, theii 
ears most philosophically shading their eyes from the hot sun, 1 
could not help feeling how little w^c appreciate the delicacy of 
several of their senses, and the extreme acuteness of their instinct. 

There exists perhaps in creation no animal which has less 
justice and more injustice done to him by man than the pig. 



THE SCHWEIN-GENERAL. 61 

Gifted with every faculty of supplying himself, and of providing 
even against the approaching storm, which no creature is better 
capable of foretelling than a pig, we begin by putting an iron 
ring through the cartilage of the nose, and having thus barbarous- ■ 
ly deprived him of the power of searching for, and analyzing, his 
food, we generally condemn him for the rest of his life to solitary 
confinement in a sty. 

While his faculties are still his own, only observe how, with a 
bark or snort, he starts if you approach him, and mark what 
shrewd intelligence there is in his bright twinkling little eye : but 
with pigs, as with mankind, idleness is the root of all evil. The 
poor animal finding that he has absolutely nothing to do — having 
no enjoyment, — nothing to look forward to but the pail which 
feeds him, naturally, most eagerly, or as we accuse him, most 
greedily, greets its arrival. Having no natural business or 
diversion — nothing to occupy his brain — the whole powers of his 
system are directed in the digestion of a superabundance of food. 
To encourage this, Nature assists him with sleep, which lulling 
his better faculties, leads his stomach to become the ruling power 
of his system— a tyrant that can bear no one's presence but his 
own. The poor pig, thus treated, gorges himself — sleeps — eats 
again — sleeps — awakens in a fright — screams — struggles against 
the blue apron — screams fainter and fainter — turns up the whites 
of his little eyes — and dies ! 

It is probably from abhorring this picture, that I know of nothing 
which is more distressing to me than to witness an indolent man 
eating his own home-fed pork. 

There is something so horribly similar between the life of the 
human being and that of his victim — ^their notions on all subjects 
are so unnaturally contracted — there is such a melancholy re- 
semblance between the strutting residence in the village, and the 
stalking confinement of the sty — between the sound of the dinner- 
bell and the rattling of the pail — between snoring in the arm- 
chair and grunting in clean straw — that, when I contrast the 
" pig's countenance " in the dish with that of his lord and master, 
who, with outstretched elbows, sits leaning over it, I own I always 
feel it is so hard the one should have killed the other — in short, there 



62 BUBBLES. 



is a sort of " Tu quoque, Brute !" moral in the picture, which to 
my mind is most painfully distressing. 

But to return to the Schwein-general, whom, with his horn and 
whip, I have left on the steep side of a barren mountain. 

In this situation do the pigs remain every morning for four 
hours, enjoying little else than air and exercise. At about nine 
or ten o'clock, they begin their march homewards, and nothing 
can form a greater contrast than their entry into their native town 
does to their exit from it. 

Their eager anxiety to get to the dinner trough that awaits 
them is almost ungovernable ; and they no sooner reach the first 
houses of the town, than a sort of " sauve qui pent" motion takes 
place : away each then starts towards his dulce domum ; and it 
is really curious to stand still and watch how very quickly they 
canter by, greedily grunting and snuffling, as if they could smell 
with their stomachs, as well as their noses, the savory food which 
is awaiting them. 

At half-past four, the same four notes of the same horn are 
heard again ; the pigs once more assemble — once more tumble 
over the hot stones on the mountain — once more remain there for 
four hours — and in the evening once again return to their styes. 

Such is the life of the pigs, not only of Langen-Schwalbach, 
but those of every village throughout a great part of Germany : 
every day of their existence, summer and winter, is spent in the 
way I have described. The squad consists here of about a hundred 
and fifty, and for each pig the poor old Schwein-general receives 
forty kreuzers (about ISd.) for six months' drilling of each recruit. 
His income, therefore, is about £20 a year, out of which he has 
to pay the board, lodging and clothing of his two aides-de-camp ; 
and when one considers how unremittingly this poor fellow-crea- 
ture has to contend with the gross appetites, sulky tempers, and 
pig-headed dispositions of the swinish multitude, surely not even 
the most niggardly refbrmei would wish to curtail his emolu- 
ments. 



THE LUTHERAN CHAPEL. 63 



THE LUTHERAN CHAPEL. 



I HAVE just come from the little Lutheran chapel, and while the 
picture is fresh before my mind, I will endeavor to describe it. 

On entering the church, the service I found had begun, and 
the first thing that struck me was, that the pulpit was empty, 
there being no minister of any sort or kind to be seen ! The 
congregation was chanting a psalm to very much the same sort 
of drawling tune which one hears in England ; yet the difference 
in their performance is very remarkable. As all were singing 
about as loud as they could, the chorus was certainly too much 
for the church : indeed, the sound had not only filled its walls, 
but streaming out of the doors and every aperture, it had rolled 
down the main street, where I had met it long before I reached 
the church. Yet, though it was certainly administered in too 
strong a dose, it was impossible to help acknowledging that it pro- 
ceeded from a peasantry who had a gift or natural notion of mu- 
sic, quite superior to anything one meets with in an English vil- 
lage, or even in a London church. The song was simple, and 
the lungs from which it proceeded were too stout ; yet there was 
nothing to ofiend the ear ; in short, there were no bad faults to 
eradicate — no nasal whine — no vulgar tremulous mixture of two 
notes — no awkward attempts at musical finery — but in every bar 
there was tune and melody, and, with apparently no one to guide 
them, these native musicians proceeded with their psalm in per- 
fect harmony and concert. 

As this singing lasted nearly twenty minutes, I had plenty of 
time to look about me. The church, which, with its little spire, 
stands on a gentle eminence above the houses of the main street, 
is a small oblong building of four windows in length by two in 



64 BUBBLES. 



breadth ; the glass in those recesses being composed of round, 
plain, unpainted panes, about the size of a common tea-saucer. 
The inside of the building is white-washed : a gallery of unpaint- 
ed wood, supported by posts very rudely hewn, going nearly round 
three sides of it. There were no pews, but rows of benches occu- 
pied about three-fourths of the body of the church : the remaining 
quarter (which was opposite to the principal entrance-door) being 
elevated three steps above the rest. At the back of this little 
platform, leaning against the wall, there was a pulpit containing 
only one reading-desk, and above it a sounding-board, surmounted 
by a gilt image of the sun — the only ornament in the church. 
In front of the pulpit, between it and the congregation, I observed 
a small, high, oblong table, covered with a plain white table-cloth, 
and on the right and left of the pulpit there existed an odd-look- 
ing pew, latticed so closely that no one could see at all perfectly 
through it. 

The three galleries were occupied by men dressed all alike in 
the common blue cloth Sunday clothes of the country. The 
bwiches beneath were filled with women ; and as I glanced an 
eye from one row to another, it was impossible to help regretting 
the sad progress, or rather devastation, which fashion is making 
in the national costume even of the little village of Langen- 
Schwalbach. Three benches nearest to the door were filled with 
women all dressed in the old genuine " buy a broom" costume of 
this country — their odd little white caps — their open stays — and 
their fully-plaited short petticoats seeming to have been cast in one 
model ; in short, they were clad in the native livery of their hills. 
Next to these were seated four rows of women and girls, who, nib- 
bling at novelty, had ventured to exchange the caps of their fe- 
male ancestors for plain horn combs ; over their stays some had 
put cotton gowns, the colored patterns of which seemed to be vul- 
garly quarrelling among each other for precedence. Next came 
a row of women in caps, frilled and bedizened. 

The Langen-Schwalbach ladies, who occupied the other two 
benches, and who were seated behind a row of boys immediately 
before the white table, had absolutely ventured to put on their 
heads bonnets with artificial flowers, 6z;c. ; in short, they had 
rigged themselves out as fine ladies — wore gloves — tight shoes — 



\ THE LUTHERAN CHAPEL. 65 

blew their noses with handkerchiefs, evidently conceiving them- 
selves (as indeed they were) fit for London, Paris, or any other 
brilliant speck in the fashionable world. 

As soon as the singing was over, a dead pause ensued, which 
lasted for many seconds, and I was wondering from what part of 
the chapel the next human voice would proceed, when very indis- 
tinctly I saw something moving in one of the latticed pews — 
slowly it glided towards the stair of the pulpit, until, mounting 
above the lattice- work, the uncertain vision changed into a re- 
markably tall, portly gentleman in black, who was now clearly 
seen leisurely ascending towards the pulpit, on the right of which 
hung a large black slate, on which were written, in white chalk, 
the numbers 414 and 309. 

As soon as the clergyman had very gravely glanced his eyes 
round the whole church, as if to recognize his congregation, he 
slowly, syllable by syllable, began an extempore address ; and 
the first words had scarcely left his lips when I could not help 
feeling that I was listening to the deepest, the gravest, and the 
most impressive voice I ever remember to have heard. But the 
whole appearance and manner of the man quite surprised me, so 
completely superior was he to anything I had at all expected to 
have met with. Indeed, for many minutes, I had given up all 
hopes of hearing any clergyman at all ; certainly not one whose 
every look, word and action seemed to proceed from the deepest 
thought and reflection. Dressed in a suit of common black 
clothes, he had apparently nothing to distinguish his holy vocation 
but the two white bands v/hich are worn by our clergymen, and 
which appeared to be the only neckcloth he wore. In a loud 
calm tone of voice, which, perfectly devoid of energy, seemed to 
be directed not to the hearts but to the understanding of his hear- 
ers, he advocated a cause in which he evidently felt that he was 
triumphant ; and the stillness of his attitude, the deep calmness 
of his voice, and the icy cold deliberation with which he spoke, 
proved that he was master not only of his subject, but of himself. 

Every word he said was apparently visible in his eyes, as if 
reflected there from his brain. He stood neither entreating, com- 
manding, nor forbidding ; but like a man mathematically demon- 
strating a problem, he was, step by step, steadily laying b:jfore the 
6 



66 BUBBLES. 



judgment of his readers truths and arguments which he well 
knew it was out of their power to deny. When he had reached 
his climax he suddenly changed his voice, and, apparently con- 
scious of the victory he had gained, in a sort of half-deep tone he 
began to ask a series of questions, each of which was followed by 
a long pause ; and in these solemn moments, when his argument 
had gained its victory — when the fabric he had been raising was 
crowned with success — there was a benignity in the triumph of 
his unexpected smile, which 1 could not but admire, as the mo- 
mentary joy seemed to arise more for the sake of others than for 
his own. 

Occasionally during the discourse he raised a hand towards 
heaven — occasionally he firmly placed it on the bosom of his own 
dark cloth waistcoat, and then, slowly extending it towards his 
congregation, it fell again lifeless to his side ; yet these actions, 
trifling as they w^ere, became very remarkable when contrasted 
with the motionless attention of the congregation. 

At times, an old woman, with the knuckle of her shrivelled 
finger, would wipe an eye, as if the subject were stealing from 
her head to her heart ; but no show of feeling was apparent in 
the minister who was addressing her ; with apostolic dignity, he 
coldly proceeded with his argument, and amidst the storm, the 
tempest of her feelings, he calmly walked upon the wave ! Never 
did I before see a human being listened to with such statue-like 
attention. 

As soon as the discourse was concluded, the psalm was given 
out — a general rustling of leaves was heard, and in a few mo- 
ments the whole congregation began, with open barn-door mouths, 
to sing. During this operation the preacher did not sit up in his 
pulpit to be stared at, but his presence not being required there, 
he descended into his pew, where 1 could just faintly trace him 
through the lattice- work. Whether he sang or not I do not know ; 
he was probably resting after his fatigue. 

The singing lasted a long time ; the tune and performance 
were much what I have already described, and when the psalm 
came to an end, the same dead pause ensued. It continued rather 
longer than before ; at last the front door of the lattice pew 
opened, and out walked the tall self-same clergyman in black. 



THE LUTHERAN CHAPEL. 67 

As he slowly advanced along the little platform, there was a 
general rustling of the congregation shutting their books, until 
he stood directly in front of the little high table covered with the 
white cloth. 

With the same pale, placid dignity of manner he pronounced 
a short blessing on the congregation, who all leant forwards, as if 
anxious to receive it, and then dropping his two arms, which, 
during this short ceremony, had been extended before him, he 
turned round, and as he slowly walked towards his latticed cell, 
the people all shuffled out the other way — until, in a few se- 
conds, the small Lutheran chapel of Langen-Schwalbach was 
empty. 



68 . BUBBLES. 



THE NEW SCHOOL. 



One morning, during breakfast, I observed several little children 
passing my window in their best clothes. The boys wore a sort 
of green sash of oak-leaves, which, coming over the right shoul- 
der, crossed the back and breast, and then winding once round 
the waist, hung in two ends on the left side. The girls, dressed 
in common white frocks, had roses in their hair, and held green 
garlands in their hands. On inquiring the reason of the children 
being dressed in this way, I found out, with some difficulty, that 
there was to be a great festival and procession, to celebrate the 
taking possession of a new school, which, built by the town, was 
only just completed. Accordingly, following some of the little 
ones down the main street, I passed this village seminary, whose 
first birth-day was thus about to be commemorated. It was a sub- 
stantial building, consisting of a centre, with two square projecting 
wings, and it was quite large enough to be taken by any stranger 
for the Hotel de Ville of Langen-Schwalbach. Wreaths of oak- 
leaves were suspended in front, and long verdant garlands of the 
same tree hung in festoons from one wing to the other. It was im- 
possible to contrast the size of this building with the small houses 
in its neighborhood, without feeling how creditable it was to the 
inhabitants of so small a town thus to show that a portion of the 
wealth they had mildly sucked from the stranger's purse was so 
sensibly and patriotically expended. The scale of the building 
seemed to indicate that the peasants of Langen-Schwalbach were 
liberal enough to desire that their children should grow up more 
enlightened than themselves ; and as I passed it, I could not help 
recollecting, with feelings of deep regret, that although in Eng- 
land there is no art or trade that has not made great improvement 



THE NEW SCHOOL. 69 



and progress, the cramped pater-noster system of our public 
schools, as well as of our universities, have too long remained 
almost the only pools stagnant in the country, a fact which 
can scarcely be reconciled with the rapid progress which our 
lower orders have lately made in useful knowledge. 

After passing this new seminary, I continued descending the 
main street about one hundred yards, which brought me to a 
small crowd of people, standing before the old school, into the 
door of which, creeping under the arms of the people, child after 
child hurried and disappeared, like a bee going into its hive. 

The old school of Langen-Schwalbach is one of the most 
ancient buildings in the town. Its elevation is fantastic, border- 
ing on the grotesque. The gable seems to be nodding forwards, 
the- humpbacked roof to be sinking in. The wooden framework 
of the house, composed of beams purposely bent into almost every 
form, has besides been very curiously hewn and carved, and on 
the front wall, placed most irregularly, there are several inscrip- 
tions, such as " Ora et lahora,'' " 1552," and then again a sen- 
tence in German, dated 1643, describing that in that year the 
house was repaired. There is also a grotesque image on the wall, 
of a child hugging a cornucopia, &;c., &c. Nevertheless, though 
all the parts of this ancient edifice are very rude there is " a 
method in the madness" with which they are arranged, that, 
somehow or other, makes the tout ensemble very pleasing ; and 
whether it be admitted to be good-looking or not, its venerable 
appearance almost any one would be disposed to respect. 

I observed that no one entered this door but the children. 
However, as in this simple, civil country great privileges are 
granted to strangers (for here, like kings, they can hardly do 
wrong), I ascended an old raile-trap staircase, until, coming to a 
landing-place, I found one large room on my left crammed full 
of little boys, and one on my right overflowing with little girls, 
these two chambers composing the whole of the building. 

On the landing-place I met the three masters, all dressed very 
respectably in black cloth clothes. The senior was about forty 
years of age, the two others quiet, nice-looking young men of 
about twenty-six, one of whom, to my very great astonishment, 
addressed me in English. He spoke the language very well, said 



70 ' BUBBLES. 



he could read it with ease, but added that he had great difficulty 
in understanding it, unless when spoken very slowly ; in short, 
as an enjoyment during the long-winded evenings of winter, he 
had actually taught himself our hissing, crabbed language, which 
he had only heard spoken by a solitary Englishman whose ac- 
quaintance he had formed last year. 

He seemed not only to be well acquainted with our English 
Authors, but talked very sensibly about the institutions and esta- 
blishments of our country ; in short, he evidently knew a great 
deal more of England than England knows of Langen-Schwal- 
bach, of the duchy of Nassau, or of many much vaster portions 
of the globe. He informed me that the school was composed of 
150 boys, and about the same number of girls ; — that of these 
300 children 180 were Protestants, — 90 Catholics ; and that since 
the year 1827, the town having agreed to admit to the blessings 
and advantages of education the children of the Jews, there were 
twenty little boys of that persuasion, and one girl. Having wit- 
nessed the prejudice, and indeed hatred, which Christians and 
Jews in many countries mutually entertain towards each other, I 
was not a little surprised at the statement thus related to me. 

After listening for some time to the tutor, he offered to show 
me the children, and accordingly with some difficulty we worked 
our way into the boys' room. It was a pretty sight to witness 
such an assemblage of little fellows with clean shining faces, and 
their native oak-leaves gave a freshness to the scene which was 
very delightful. 

Among these white-haired laddies, most of whom were from four 
to eight years of age, it was quite unnecessary to inquire which 
were the Jew boys, for there each stood, as distinctly marked as 
their race is all over the face of the globe ; yet I must acknow- 
lege they were by far the handsomest children in the room, look- 
ing much more like Spaniards than Germans. The chamber full 
of little girls would have pleased anybody, so nicely were they 
dressed, and apparently so well-behaved. Several were exceed- 
ingly pretty children, and the garlands they held in their hands, 
the wreaths of roses which bloomed on their heads, and the smiles 
that beamed on their faces, formed as pretty a mixture of the 
animal and vegetable creation as could well be imagined. 



THE NEW SCHOOL. 7.1 



In one corner stood the only Jewish girl in the room, and 
Rebecca herself could n*)t have had a handsomer nose, a pair of 
brighter eyes, or a more marked expression of countenance. She 
was more richly dressed than the other village girls — wore a 
necklace, and I observed a thick gold or brass ring on the fore- 
finger of her left hand. We went several times from one room 
full of children to the other ; and it was really pleasing to see in 
a state of such thoughtless innocence those who were to become 
the future possessors of the houses and property of Langen- 
Schwalbach. All of a sudden, a signal was given to the children 
to descend, and it became then quite as much as the three mas- 
ters could do to make them go out of the room hand-in-hand. 
Down scrambled first the boys, and then more quietly followed 
the little girls, though not without one or two screams proceeding 
from those who in their hurry had dropped their garlands. One 
of these green hoops I picked up, and seeing a little girl crying 
her heart out, I gave it to her, and no balm of Gilead ever worked 
so sudden a cure, for away she ran, and joined her comrades, 
laughing. 

As soon as the children had all left the two rooms, the three 
masters descended, and we followed them into the street, where 
the civil authorities of the town, and almost all the parents of 
the little ones, had assembled. With great difficulty the 
children were all collected together in a group, in the open 
air, exactly in front of the_school ; and when this arrangement 
was effected, the mayor, two Catholic ministers, two Protestant 
clergymen, and the three masters, stood exactly in front of the 
children, facing also the house from which they had proceeded. 
For some time, the masters and the four Christian ministers stood 
smiling and talking to each other ; however, at last the mayor 
made a bow, everybody took off their hats, the ministers' counte- 
nances stiffened, and for a few seconds a dead silence ensued. 
At last the mayor with due ceremony took off his hat, when the 
youngest of the Lutheran ministers, advancing one step in front, 
commenced a long address to the children. 

What he said I was not near enough to hear ; but I saw con- 
stantly beaming in his countenance that sort of benevolent smile, 
which would be natural almost to any one, in addressing so very 



BUBBLES. 



youthful a congregation. Occasionally he pointed with his hand to 
heaven, and then, continuing his subject, smiled as if to cheer 
them on the way ; but the little toads, instead of attending to him, 
were all apparently eager to get to their fine new school, and 
with roses on their heads, and garlands in their hands, they seemed 
as if they did not feel that they stood in need of a routing dose of 
good advice ; in short, not one of them appeared to pay the slight- 
est attention to a discourse which could not but have been very 
interesting to the parents. However, in one respect, I must own 
I was slightly disappointed ; che burden of the discourse must 
have been on the duties and future prospects of the children, and 
on the honors and advantages of the new school ; for I particu- 
larly remarked that not once did the clergyman point or address 
himself to the old building — not a single eye but my own was ever 
turned towards it, and none but myself seemed to feel for it any 
regret that it was about to lose a village importance which for so 
many years it had enjoyed. It was sentenced to be deserted, and 
walls which had long been enlivened by the cheerful sound of 
youthful voices, were in their old age suddenly to be bereft of all ! 
I could not help feeling for the old institution, and when the 
discourse was ended — when hats had returned to people's heads, 
and when the procession of children, followed by the ministers, 
had already begun to move, I could not for some time take my 
eyes off the old fabric. The date 1552, and the rude-looking 
image of the boy, particularly attracted my attention ; however, 
the old hive was deserted, — the bees had swarmed — had already 
hovered in the air, and to their new abode they had all flown 
away. Jostled from my position by people who were following 
the procession, I proceeded onwards with the crowd, but not with- 
out mumbling to myself — 

Let others hail the rising sun, 
I bow to him whose course is run. 

As soon as the children reached their fine new abode, a band, 
which had been awaiting their arrival, struck up ; and in the 
open air they instantly sung a hymn. The doors were then 
thrown open, and in high glee the little creatures scrambled up 
the staircase, and the mayor, clergyman, and school-masters 



THE NEW SCHOOL. 73 

having followed, a great rush was made by parents and specta- 
tors. I managed to gain a good place, but in very few 
moments the room was filled, and so jammed up with people, 
that they could scarcely raise their hands to wipe the perspiration 
which soon began to appear very copiously on all faces. It 
became dreadfully hot, and besides suffering from this cause, I felt 
by no means happy at a calculation which very unwelcomely 
kept forcing itself into my mind — namely, that the immense 
weight of human flesh which was for the first time trying new 
beams, might produce a consummation by no means " devoutly to 
be wished." 

As soon as order was established, and silence obtained, the 
Catholic minister addressed the children ; and when he had 
finished, the tall Lutheran clergyman, whose description I have 
already given to the reader, followed in his deepest tone, and with 
his gravest demeanor ; but it was all lost upon the children : 
indeed it was so hot, and we were so little at our ease, that 
all were very glad, indeed, to hear him conclude by the word 
'' Amen !" 

The children now sang another hymn, which, in a cooler 
climate, would have been quite beautiful ; the mayor made a bow 
—the thing was at an end, and I believe every one was as much 
delighted as myself to get once again into pure fresh air. 

As I had been told by the teacher that the children would 
dance and eat in the evening, at four o'clock, I went to the 
school at that hour, expecting that there would be what in Eng- 
land would be called " a ball and supper ;" however, the supper 
had come first, and the remains of it were on two long tables. 
The feast which the little ones had been enjoying had consisted 
of a slice of white bread and a glass of Rhenish wine for each ; 
and, as soon as I entered the room, twor policemen bowed and 
begged me to be seated. They and their friends were evidently 
regaling themselves with the wine which had been furnished for 
the children ; however, the little creatures did not seem to want 
it, and I was very glad to see it inflaming the eyes of the old 
party, and flushing their cheeks, instead of having a similar effect 
on the young ones. 

It had been settled that the children were to dance ; but they 



74 BUBBLES. 



were much too young to care for such an amusement. The little 
boys had got together at one end of the room, and the girls were 
sitting laughing at the other, both groups being as happily inde- 
pendent as it was possible to be. Sometimes the boys amused 
themselves with a singing game — one chanting a line, and all the 
rest bursting in with the chorus, which, though it contained nearly 
as much laughter as music, showed that the youngsters were well 
enough conversant with both. The girls had also their song. As 
I left the room, several of the children were singing on the stairs 
— all were as happy as I had desired to see them ; and yet I 
firmly believe that the whole festival I have described, — oak- 
leaves, roses, garlands, festoons, bread, wine, &c., altogether, — 
could not have cost the town of Langen-Schwalbach ten shillings ! 
Nevertheless, in its history, the opening of a public establishment 
so useful to future generations, and so creditable to the present onCj 
was an event of no inconsiderable importance* 



THE OLD PROTESTANT CHURCH. 75 



THE OLD PROTESTANT CHURCH. 



The old Protestant Church, at the lower extremity of Langen- 
Schwalbach, has not been preached in for about three years ; and 
it being locked up, I had to call for admission at a house in the 
centre of the town. The man was not at home, but his wife (very 
busily employed in dressing, against its will, a squalling infant) 
pointed to the key, which I gravely took from a nail over her 
head. This venerable building stands, or rather totters, on a 
small eminence close to the road — long rents in its walls, and the 
ruinous, decayed state of the mortar, sufficiently denoting its 
great antiquity. The roof and spires are still covered with slates, 
which seem fluttering as if about to take their departure. The 
churchyard continues in the valley to be the only Christian 
receptacle for the dead ; and within its narrow limits. Catholics, 
Lutherans, and Calvinists end their worldly differences by soundly 
sleeping together, side by side. Here and there a tree is seen 
standing at the head of a Protestant's grave ; but, though the twig 
was exclusively planted there, yet its branches, like knowledge, 
have gradually extended themselves, until they now wave and 
droop alike over those who, thus joined in death, had, neverthe- 
less, lived in paltry opposition to each other. The rank grass 
also grows with equal luxuriance over all, as if the turf, like the 
trees, v/as anxious to level all human animosities, and to become 
the winding-sheet or covering of Christian fraternities which 
ought never to have disputed. 

In various parts of the cemetery I observed several worn-out, 
wooden, triangular monuments on the totter ; while others were 
lying prostrate on the grass — the " hie jacet " being exactly 
as applicable to each of themselves as to that departed beings 



76 BUBBLES. 



whose life and death they had vainly presumed to commemorate. 
Although the inscriptions recorded by these frail historians were 
scarcely legible, yet roses and annual flowers, blooming on the 
grave, plainly showed that there was still in existence some friendly 
hand, some foot, some heart, that moved with kindly recollection 
towards the dead. Upon several recent graves of children there 
were placed, instead of tombstones, the wreaths of artificial 
flowers, which during their funeral had either rested upon the 
coffin, or had been carried in the hands of parents and friends. 
The sun and rain — the wind and storm — had blanched the arti- 
ficial bloom from the red roses, and, of course, had sullied the 
purity of the white ones ; yet this worthless finery, lying upon 
the newly-moved earth, had probably witnessed unaffected feel- 
ings, to which the cold, white marble monument is often a stranger. 
The little heap of perishable wreaths, so lightly piled one upon 
the other, was the act, the tribute, the effusion of the moment : it 
was all the mother had had to record her feelings ; it was what 
she had left behind her, as she tore herself av/ay ; and though it 
could not, I own, be compared to an expensive monument sculp- 
tured by an artist, yet, resting above the coffin, it had one intrinsic 
value — at least, it had been left there by a friend ! 

At one corner of the churchyard, there was a grave which was 
only just completed. The living laborer had retired from it; the 
dead tenant had not yet arrived ; but the moment I looked into it, I 
could not help feeling how any one of our body-snatchers would 
have rubbed his rough hands, and what rude raptures he would 
have enjoyed, at observing that the lid of the coffin would be de- 
posited scarcely a foot and a half below the sod. However, in the 
little duchy of Nassau, human corpses have not yet become coin 
current in the realm ; and whatever may be a man's troubles 
during his life, at Langen-Schwalbach he may truly say he will, 
at least, find rest in the grave. 

I know it is very wrong — I know that one is always blamed for 
bringing before the mind of wealthy people any truth which is 
at all disagreeable to them ; yet on the brink of this grave I could 
not help feeling how very much one ought to detest the polite 
Paris and London fashion of smartening up us old people with the 
teeth and hair of the dead ! It always seems to me so unfair, for 



THE OLD PROTESTANT CHURCH. 77 

US who have had our day — who have ourselves heen young — to 
attempt, when we grow old, to deprive the rising generation of the 
advantage of that contrast which so naturally enhances their 
beauties. The spring of life, to be justly appreciated and admir- 
ed, requires to be compared with the snow and storms of winter, 
and if by chicanery you hide the latter, the sunshine of the for- 
mer loses a great portion of its beauty. In naked, savage life, 
there exists no picture on which I have so repeatedly gazed with 
calm pleasure, as that of the daughter supporting the trembling, 
dilapidated fabric of the being to whom she owes her birth ; in- 
deed, it is as impossible for man to withhold the respect and pity 
which is due to age whenever it be seen laboring under its real 
infirmities, as it is for him to contain his admiration of the natural 
loveliness of youth. The parent and child, thus contrasted, render 
to each other services of which botn appear to be insensible ; for 
the mother does not seem aware how the shattered outlines of her 
faded frame heighten the robust, blooming beauties of her child, 
who, in her turn, seems equally unconscious how beautifully and 
eloquently her figure explains and pleads for the helpless decre- 
pitude of age ! In the Babel confusion of our fashionable world, 
this beautifully arranged contrast of nature, the effect of which 
no one who has ever seen it can forget, does not exist. Before 
the hair has grown really grey — before time has imparted to it 
even its autumnal tint, it is artfully replaced by dark flowing 
locks, obtained by every revolting contrivance. The grave itself 
is attacked — our living dowagers of the present day do not hesi- 
tate to borrow their youthful ornaments even from the dead — and 
to such a horrid extreme has fashion encouraged this unnatural 
propensity, that even the carcase of the soldier, who has fallen in 
a foreign land, and who, 

leaving in battle no blot on his name, l 

Looks proudly to heaven from the death-bed of fame, — • 

has not been respected ! 

One would think that the ribands and honors on his breast, 
flapping in the wind, would have scared even the vulture from 
such prey ] but no ! the orders which the London dentist has re- 



78 BUBBLES. 



ceived must, he pleads, be punctually executed ; and it is a 
revolting fact, but too well known to " the trade," that many, and 
many, and many a set of teeth which bit the dust of Waterloo, by 
an untimely resurrection appeared again on earth, smiling lasci- 
viously at Almacks' ball ! So much for what is termed fashion. 

After rambling about the churchyard for some minutes, occa- 
sionally spelling at an inscription, and sometimes looking at (not 
picking) a sepulchral flower, I walked to the church-door, and 
turning round its old-fashioned key, which ever since I had re- 
ceived it had been dangling in my hand, the lock started back, 
and then, as if I had said " Open, Sesame !" the door opened. 

On looking before me, my first impression was that my head 
was swimming ! for the old gallery, hanging like the gardens of 
Babylon, seemed to be writhing ; the four-and-twenty pews were 
leaning sideways ; the aisle, or approach to the altar, covered 
with heaps of rubbish, was an undulating line, and an immense 
sepulchral flag-stone had actually been lifted up at one side, as if 
the corpse, finding the church deserted, had restlessly burst from 
his grave, and had wrenched himself once again into daylight. 
The pulpit was out of its perpendicular ; some pictures, loosely 
hanging against the wall, had turned away their faces ; and a 
couple of planks were resting diagonally against the altar, as if 
they had fallen from the roof. I really rubbed my eyes, fancying 
that they were disordered ; however, the confusion I witnessed 
was real, and as nearly as possible as I have described it. Still, 
however, there was no dampness in the church, and it was, I 
thought, a remarkable proof of the dryness of the light mountain 
air of Langen-Schwalbach, that the sepulchral wreaths of artifi- 
cial flowers which were hanging around on the walls were as 
starched and as stifl* as on the day they were placed there. 

A piece of dingy black cloth, with narrow white fringe, was the 
only ornament to the pulpit, from which both book and minister 
had so long departed. The thing was altogether on the totter ; 
yet when I reflected what little harm it had done in the world, 
and how much good, I could not help acknowledging that respect 
was justly due to its old age, and that, even by the stranger, it 
ought to be regarded with sentiments of veneration. In gazing 
at monuments of aEtiquity, one of the most natural pleasures 



THE OLD PROTESTANT CHURCH. 79 

which the mind enjoys is being by them fancifully transported to 
the scenes which they so clearly commemorate. The Roman 
amphitheatre becomes filled with gladiators and spectators ; — the 
streets of Pompeii are seen again thronged with people ; — the 
Grecian temple is ornamented with the votive offerings of heroes 
and of senators ; — even the putrid marsh of Marathon teems with 
noble recollections ; while at home, on the battlements of our old 
English castles, we easily figure to ourselves barons proud of their 
deeds, and sturdy vassals in armor faithfully devoted to their ser- 
vice ;. in short, while beholding such scenes, the heart glows, until, 
by its feverish heat, feelings are produced to which no one can be 
completely insensible: however, when we awaken from this de- 
lightful dream, it is difficult, indeed impossible, to drive away the 
painful moral which, sooner or later in the day, proves to us much 
Joo clearly, that these ruins have outlived, and, in fact, comme- 
morate, the errors, the passions, and the prejudices which caused 
them to be built. 

But after looking up at the plain, unassuming pulpit of an old 
Lutheran church, one feels, long after one has left it, that all that 
has proceeded from its simple desk has been to promulgate peace, 
good-will, and happiness among mankind ; and though, in its old 
age, it be now deserted, yet no one can deny that the seeds which, 
in various directions, it has scattered before the wind, are not only 
vigorously flourishing in the little valley in which it stands, but 
must continue there and elsewhere to produce effects which time 
itself can scarcely annihilate. 

Turning towards the altar, I was looking at pictures of the 
twelve apostles, who, like sentinels at their posts, were in various 
attitudes surrounding it, when apropos to nothing, the great clock 
in the belfry struck four, and so little did I expect to hear any noise 
at all, that I could not help starting at being thus suddenly re- 
minded that the watch was still ticking in the fob of the dead 
soldier — in short, that that clock was still faithfully pointing out the 
progress of time, though the church to which it belonged had 
already, practically speaking, terminated its existence ! Never 
did I before listen to four vibrations of an old church clock with 
more reverential attention : however, at each stroke involuntarily 
looking upwards^ I did not altogether enjoy the sight of some loose 



8a BUBBLES, 



rafters which were hanging over my head. I therefore very 
quietly moved onwards, yet, passing a small door, I could not 
resist clambering up an old well-staircase which led to the belfry ; 
not, however, until I had calculated thaty as the building could 
bear the bells, my weight was not likely to turn the scale. I did 
not, however, feel disposed to reach the bells, but managed, through 
a rent in the wall, to look down on the roof, and such a scene of 
devastation it would be difficult to describe. The half^mouldered 
slates had not only been ripped away by the wind in every direc- 
tion, but the remainder appeared as if they were just ready to 
follow in the flight. The roof was bending in, and altogether it 
looked so completely on the totter, that the slightest additional 
weight would have brought everything to the ground. After 
descending, I went once more round the church, opened some of 
the old latticed pews — peeped into the marble font, which was 
half-filled wth decayed mortar — ^took up a bird^s nest that had 
fallen into the chancel from the roof, — and strolling towards the 
altar, I found there a small board covered with white pasteboard, 
and ornamented with a garland of roses. On this simple tablet 
were inscribed, in black letters, the names of the little band, of 
Langen-Schwalbachians who had been present in the great cam- 
paign of 1815 ; and in case the reader should like to know not 
only who were the heroes of so remote a valley, but also what sort 
of names they possessed, I offer him a copy of the muster-roll of 
those thus distinguished for having served their native country, 
which the German language emphatically calls, " Vaterland.'^ — 

Dem. Verdientfeer Eberhard Hofman Eberhard Rucker 

Conrad Blies Wilhelm Koch Casper Schenk 

Adam Buslach Plilipp Kraus Philipp Singhoff 

Ludwig Diefenbach Adam Klenig Johannes Sartor 

Martin Eschenever Christop Lindie Ferdinand WenseL 

Philipp Hoenig Ludwig Liedebach 

Having carefully locked up the old church with all the relics 
it contained, descending the steps of the eminence on which it 
stood, I once more found myself in the street among fellow- 
creatures. 

The new Protestant church, which is very shortly to he built. 



THE OLD PROTESTANT CHURCH. 81 

and to which the bells of this old one. if possible, are to be re- 
moved, will be in the centre of the town ; but this site, though 
more convenient, will not, I think, be so picturesque as that of 
the old building, which, with the Catholic church at the other ex- 
tremity of the town, seem to be the alpha and omega — the be- 
ginning and the end of Langen-Schwalbach. From the surround- 
ing hills, as the eye glances from the one of these old buildings 
to the other, they appear to be the good Genii of the town — two 
guardian angels to watch over the welfare of its people here and 
hereafter. 

7 



82 BUBBLES. 



THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 



The low part of Langen-Schwalbach, where the Jews hve, is the 
most ancient portion of the town, the houses they inhabit being just 
above and below the great original brunnen or fountain, which, 
as I have stated, was celebrated for its medicinal properties even 
in the time of the Romans. This immense spring, which rises 
within a foot and a half of the surface of the ground (being then 
carried away by a subterranean drain), is two or three times as 
large as the Stahl brunnen, the Wein brunnen, or the fashionable 
Pauline. It contains very little iron, being principally sulphure- 
ous. From the violence with which it rises from the rock, the 
water is apparently constantly boiling, and such a suffocating gas 
arises from it, that, as at the Grotto del Cane, at Naples, one sin- 
gle inhalation would be nearly sufficient to deprive a person of 
his senses. Besides being strongly impregnated with this gas, it 
has also such an unearthly taste, that one almost fancies it must 
flow direct from the cellar of his Satanic majesty. Still, how- 
ever, the Jews constantly drink, cook, and even wash with this 
water ; however, being below the surface, it is necessary for them 
to stoop into the suffocating vapor whenever they fill their pitch- 
ers ; and as one sees Jewess after Jewess dipping her dark greasy 
head into this infernal caldron, holding her breath, and then sud- 
denly raising her head, with a. momentary paleness and an aspi- 
ration which sufficiently explain her sensations, one feels any- 
thing but sympathy for a being who can voluntary flutter in 
such a fetid climate. 

With sentiments, I fear, not very liberal, I stood for many 
minutes looking at those who came to fill their pitchers ; at last, 
rather a better feeling shooting across me, I resolved once more 



THE JEWISH SYJSTAGOGUE. 83 

1:0 make a trial of water ^n which so many of my fellow-crea- 
tures seemed to subsist, and I accordingly dipped my hand into 
a large washing-tub which an old Jewess had half suffocated 
lierself in filling wiith her pitcher. The woman offered me no 
-sign or word of disrespect, but I saw her cast a withering look at 
the water, as if ^ cup of poison had been poured into it : she con- 
tinued, however, very quietly to fill her other tubs ; but after I 
had walked away^ turning suddenly round for a moment^ I saw 
her upset the tub from which I had drank, her lips muttering at 
the same time some short observation to a sister Jewess standing 
l)eside her, 

I could not, however-, help acknowledgmg that her prejudice 
M^as not more illiberal, and certainly far more excusable, than 
my own ; and as I had determined to attend that evening the 
Jewish synagogue, in the mean while I did what I could to bring 
my mind to a proper state of feeling towards a people whose form 
of worship 1 was desirous seriously to witness. 

Never had I before chanced to enter a synagogue ; yet, when 
I had reflected on the singular history o[ the Jews, I had often 
concluded that there must be some strange, unaccountable at- 
traction, something inexplicably mysterious in their form of wor- 
ship which could have induced them to brave the persecutions 
that in all ages, and in so many countries^ had tracad out their 
history in letters of blood. 

Full of curiosity, I had therefore inquired at what hour on 
Friday their church would assemble, and being told that they 
would meet ^' as soon as .the stars were visible,'^ I walked towards 
the synagogue, a few minutes after sunset, and in every Jewish 
house { observed, as 1 pa,ssed it, seven candies burning in a cir- 
cle. The house of worship was a small oblong hovel, not unlike 
a barn . The -door was open, but no human being appeared within, 
•excepting a man over whose shoulders there was thrown a piece of 
common brown sack-cloth.. This personage, who turned out to be 
the priest, stood before a sort of altar ; and, just as careless of it as 
of us, he stood bowing to it incessantly. There being not much 
to see in these vibrations, I walked away, and returning in about 
five minutes, I found tl.\e congregation had suddenly assembled, 
and the service begun. 



84 BUBBLES. 



In the course of my life, like most people, I have chanced to 
witness a great variety of forms of worship, several of which it 
would not be very easy to describe. For instance, it would be 
difficult, or rather impossible, to delineate, by words, high mass^ 
as performed in the great church of St. Peter, at Rome. One 
might, indeed, fully describe any part of it, but the silence of 
one moment, the burst of music at another, the immensity of the 
building, and the assembled congregation, produce altogether 
sensations on the eye and ear which the goose-quill has not power 
to impart. Again, to the simple homage which a Peruvian In- 
dian pays to the sun no man could do justice ; one might describe 
his attitude as he prostrates himself before what he conceives ta 
be the burning ruler of the universe, but the fleeting expressions 
of his supplicating countenance, as it trembles^ — hopes — flushes — 
and then, with eyes dazzled to dimness, trembles again, — may be 
witnessed, but cannot be described. One of the wildest forms of 
worship I ever beheld was, perhaps, the dance of the Dervishes, 
at Athens ; for there is a sort of enthusiasm in the convulsions 
into which these twelve men throw themselves, which has a most 
indescribable effect on those who witness it : it is madness, — yet 
it is a tempest of the mind within the range of which no man's 
senses can live unruffled ; — the strongest judgment bends before 
the gale, and insensibly are the feelings led astray by conduct^ 
actions, words, grimaces, and contortions, which, taken altogether, 
are indescribable. 

But although these and many other forms of worship may be 
original pictures which cannot be copied, yet I think a child of 
about ten years of age, if he could only hold a pen, might give a 
reader as good a notion of Langen-Schwalbach synagogue, as if 
he had been there himself a thousand times ; for all the poor 
child would have to do would be to beg him to imagine a small 
dirty barn, swarming with fleas, filled with dirty looking men in 
dirty dresses, with old hats on their heads, spitting — hallooing — 
reading — ^bowing — hallooing louder than ever — scratching them 
selves as they leave the synagogue, — and then calmly walking 
home to their seven candles ! 

To any serious, reflecting mind, all religions, to a certain point, 
are worthy of respects It is true, all cannot be right, yet the 



THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 85 

errors are those which fellow-creatures need not dispute among 
each other; he who has the happiness to go right has no just 
cause to be offended with those who unfortunately have mistaken 
their course ; and however men's political opinions may radiate 
from each other, yet their zeal for religion is at least one tie 
which ought to connect them together. However, the Jews of 
Langen-Schwalbach, so far as a spectator can judge by their be- 
havior, do not even pretend to be zealous in their cause. There 
is no pretence of feeling, — no attempt either at humbug or effect. 
They perform their services as if, having made a regular bargain 
to receive certain blessings for hallooing a certain time, they con- 
ceived that all they had to do was scrupulously to perform their 
part of the contract, that there was no occasion to exceed their 
agreement, or give more than was absolutely required by the 
bond. 

As I stood just within the door of the synagogue, listening to 
their rude, uncouth, noisy worship, almost every eye was turned 
upon me, and the expression of many of the countenances was so 
ill-favored, that I very soon left them, though I had even then a 
long way to walk before I ceased to hear the strange wild bulla- 
bulloo they were making. 



86 BUBBLES. 



THE HARVEST. 



All this day I have been strolling about the fields, watching the 
getting in of the harvest. The crops of oats, rye, and wheat 
{principally bearded), are much heavier than anyone would expect 
from such light and apparently poor land ; but the heavy dews 
which characterize the summer climate of this high country 
impart a nourishment, which in richer lands often lies dormant 
from drought. In Nassau, the corn is cut principally by women, 
who use a sickle so very small and light, that it seems but little 
labor to wield it. They begin early in the morning, and with 
short intervals of rest continue till eleven o'clock, when the 
various village bells suddenly strike up a merry peal, which is a 
signal to the laborers to come home to their dinners. It is a very 
interesting scene to observe, over the undulating surface of the 
whole country, groups of peasants, brothers, sisters, parents, &c., 
all bending to their sickles — to see children playing round infants 
lying fast asleep on blue smock-frocks placed under the shade of 
the corn sheaves. It is pleasing to remark the rapid progress 
which the several parties are making ; how each little family, 
attacking its own patch or property, works its way into the stand- 
ing corn, leaving the golden crop prostrate behind them : and 
then, in the middle of this simple, rural, busy scene, it is delight- 
ful indeed to hear from the belfry of their much-revered churches 
a peal of cheerful notes, which peacefully sound " lullaby " to 
them all. In a very few seconds the square fields and little 
oblong plots are deserted, and then the various roads and paths of 
the country suddenly burst in lines upon the attention, each being 
delineated by a string of peasants, who are straggling one behind 
the other, until paths in all directions are seen converging towards 



THE HARVEST. 87 



the parental village churches, which seem to be attracting 
them all. 

As soon as each field of corn is cut, it is bound into sheaves, 
about the size they are in England : seven of these are then made 
to lean towards each other, and upon them all is placed a large 
sheaf reversed, the ears of which hanging downwards form a sort 
of thatch, which keeps this little stack dry until its owner has time 
to carry it to his home. It generally remains many days in this 
state, and after the harvest has been all cut, the country covered 
with these stacks resembles a vast encampment. 

The carts and waggons used for carrying the corn are exceed- 
ingly well adapted to the country. Their particular characteris- 
tic is excessive lightness, and, indeed, were they heavy, it would 
be quite impossible for any cattle to draw them up and down the 
hills. Occasionally they are drawn by horses — often by small 
active oxen ; but cows more generally perform this duty, and 
with quite as much patience as their mistresses, at the same mo- 
ment, are laboring before them at the sickle. The yoke or beam 
by which these cows are connected, is placed immediately behind 
their horns ; a little leather pillow is then laid upon their brow, 
over which passes a strap that firmly lashes their heads to the 
beam, and it is, therefore, against such soft cushions that the 
animals push to advance ; and thus linked together for life, by 
this sort of Siamese band, it is curious to observe them eating 
together, then by agreement raising their heads to swallow, then 
again standing motionless, chewing the cud, which is seen pass- 
ing and repassing from the stomach to the mouth. 

At first, when, standing near them, I smelt from their breath 
the sweet fresh milk, it seemed hard that they should thus be, as i't 
were, domestic candles, lighted at both ends : however, verily do 
I believe that all animals prefer exercise, nay, even hard work, to 
any sort of confinement, and if so, they are certainly happier than 
our stall-fed cows, many of which, in certain parts of Britain, may 
be seen with their heads fixed economically for months between 
two vertical beams of wood. The Nassau cows certainly do not 
seem to sufier while working in their light carts ; as soon as their 
mistress advances they follow her, and if she tuins and whips 



88 BUBBLES. 



them, then do they seem to hurry after her more eagerly than 
ever. 

It is true hard labor has the effect of impoverishing their milk, 
and the calf at home is consequently (so far as it is concerned) a 
loser by the bargain ; however, there is no child in the peasant's 
family who has not had cause to make the same complaint ; and, 
therefore, so long as the laborer's wife carries her infant to the 
harvest, the milch cow may very fairly be required to draw to the 
hovel what has been cut by her hands. 

Nothing can be better adapted to the features of the country, 
nothing can better accord with the feeble resources of its inhabit- 
ants, than the equipment of these economical waggons and carts : 
the cows and oxen can ascend any of the hills, or descend into any 
of the valleys ; they can, without slipping, go sideways along the 
face of the hills, and in crossing the green swampy grassy ravines, 
I particularly remarked the advantage of the light waggon drawn 
by animals with cloven feet, for had one of our heavy teams 
attempted the passage, like a set of flies walking across a plate of 
treacle, they would soon have become unable to extricate even 
themselves. But in making the comparison between the horse 
and the cow (as far as regards Nassau husbandry), I may fur- 
ther observe, that the former has a very expensive appetite, and 
wears very expensive shoes ; as soon as he becomes lame he is 
useless, and as soon as he is dead he is carrion. Now a placid, 
patient Langen-Schwalbach cow, in the bloom of her youth, costs 
only two or three pounds ; she requires neither corn nor shoeing ; 
the leaves of the forest, drawn by herself to the village, form her 
bed, which in due time she carries out to the field as manure : there 
is nothing a light cart can carry which she is not ready to fetch, 
and from her work she cheerfully returns to her home to give 
milk, cream, butter, and cheese to the establishment : at her death 
she is still worth eleven kreuzers a pound as beef; and when her 
flesh has disappeared, her bones, after being ground at the mill, 
once again appear upon her master's fields, to cheer, manure, 
and enrich them. 

As, quite in love with cows, I was returning from the harvest, 
I met the Nassau letter-cart, one of the cheapest carriages for its 
purpose that can well be conceived. It consists of a pair of high 



THE HARVEST. 



wheels connected by a short axle, upon which are riveted a few 
boards framed together in the form of a small shallow box ; in 
this little coffin the letter-bag is buried, and upon it, like a monu- 
ment, sits a light boy dressed in the uniform of a Nassau postilion, 
who, with a trumpet in one hand, a long whip in the other, and 
the reins sporting loose under his feet, starts as if he deliberately 
meant mischief, intending to get well over his ground ; and there 
being scarcely any weight to carry, the horse really might pro- 
ceed as a mail-coach horse ought to go ; bat that horrible Punch 
and Judy trumpet upsets the whole arrangement, for as the thing 
is very heavy, the child soon takes two hands to it instead of one, 
when down goes the whip, and from that moment the picture, 
which promised to be a good one, is spoilt. 

The letter-bag crawls, like a reptile, along the road, while the 
boy, amusing himself with his plaything, reminds one of those 
" nursery rhymes" which say. 

And with rings on his fingers, and bells on his toes. 
We shall have music wherever he goes. 

It is quite provoking to see a government carriage in its theory 
so simply imagined, and so cleverly adapted to its purpose, thus 
completely ruined in its practice. Music may be, and indeed is, 
very delightful in its way ; but a tune is one thing — speed 
another ; and it always seems to me a pity that the Duke of 
Nassau should allow these two substances to be so completely 
confounded in his dominions. 

How admirably does the long tin horn of the guard of one of 
our mail-coaches perform its blunt duty ! — a single blast is suf- 
ficient to remove the obstruction of an old gentleman in his gig — 
two are generally enough for a heavy cart — three for a waggon 
— and half-a-dozen, slowly and sternly applied, are always 
sufficient to awaken even the snoring keeper of a turnpike-gate — 
in short, to 

Break his bands of sleep asunder. 

And rouse him like a rattling peal of thunder. 

Hark ! hark ! the horrid sound 

Has raised up his head as awaked from the dead 

And amazed he stares round ! 



90 BUBBLES. 



The gala turn-out of our mail-coaches on the King's birth-day, 
I always think must strike foreigners more than anything else in 
our country with the sterling solid integrity of the English char- 
acter. To see so many well-bred horses in such magnificent con- 
dition — so many well-built carriages — so many excellent drivers, 
and such a corps of steady, quiet, resolute-looking men as guards, 
each wearing, as well as every coachman, the King's own livery 
— all this must silently point out, even to our most jealous enemies, 
not only the w^ealth of the country, but the firm basis on which it 
stands ; in short, it must prove to them most undeniably, that there 
is no one thing in England which, tliroughout the land, is treated 
with so much universal attention and respect, as the honest, speedy, 
and safe delivery of the letters and commercial correspondence of 
the country. Nevertheless, if our English coachmen were to be 
allowed, instead of attending to their horses, to play on trumpets 
as they proceeded, we should, as in the Duchy of Nassau, soon 
pay very dearly for their music. 



THE SUNSET. 91 



THE SUNSET. 



It had been hot all day — the roads had been dusty — the ground, 
as one trod upon it, had felt warm — the air was motionless — 
animal as well as vegetable life appeared weak and exhausted — • 
Nature herself seemed parched and thirsty — the people on the 
promenade, as it got hotter and hotter, had walked slower and 
slower, until they were now crawling along as unwillingly as if 
they had been marching to their graves. The world, as if from 
apathy, was coming to a stand-still — Langen-Schwalbach itself 
appeared to be fainting away, when the evening sun, having 
rested for a moment on the western height, gradually vanished 
from our sight. 

His red tyrannical rays had hardly left our pale abject faces, 
when all people suddenly revived ; like a herd of fawning cour- 
tiers who had been kept trembling before their king, they felt that; 
left to themselves, they could now breathe, and think, and stamp 
their feet. Parasols, one after another, were shut up — the pedes- 
trians on the promenade freshened their pace — even fat patients 
who had long been at anchor on the benches, began to show symp- 
toms of getting under way — every leaf seemed suddenly to be 
enjoying the cool gentle breeze which was now felt stealing up 
the valley ; until, in a very few minutes, everything in Nature 
was restored to life and enjoyment. 

It was the hour for returning to my " Hof," but the air as it 
blew into my window was so delightfully refreshing, and so irre- 
sistibly inviting, that I and my broad-brimmed hat went out tete-d- 
tete to enjoy it. As we passed the red pond of iron water, op- 
posite to the great " Indian Hof," which comes from the strong 
Stahl brunnen, having, nothing to do, I lingered for some time 



92 BUBBLES. 



watching the horses that were brought there. After having toiled 
through the excessive heat of the day, any water would have been 
agreeable to them ; but the nice, cool, strengthening, elfervescing 
mixture into which they were now led, seemed to be so exceed- 
ingly deliglitful, that they were scarcely up to their knees before 
tliey made a strong attempt to drink ; but the rule being that they 
should first lialf walk, half swim two or three times round the 
pond, this cleansing or ablution was no sooner over — the reins 
were no sooner loosened — when down went their heads into the 
red cooling pool ; and one had tlien only to look at the horses' eyes 
to appreciate their enjoyment. With the wliole of their mouths 
and nostrils immersed, they seemed as if they fancied they could 
drink the pond dry ; however, the greedy force with which they 
held their heads down gradually relaxed, until, at last, up they 
were raised, with an aspiration which seemed to say, " We can 
hold no more !" In about ten seconds, however, their noses again 
dropped to the surface, but only to play with an element which 
seemed now to be useless — so completely had one single draught 
altered its current value ! As I stood at the edge of this pond, 
leaning over the rail, mentally participating with the horses in tlie 
luxury they were enjoying, a violent shower of rain came on ; 
yet, before I had hurried fifty yards for an umbrella, it had ceased. 
These little showers are exceedingly common amongst the hills 
of Nassau in the evenings of very hot days. From the power of 
the sun, tlie valleys during the day are filled brim-full with a 
steam, or exhalation, which no sooner loses its parent, the sun, 
than the cold condenses it ; and, then, like the tear on the cheek 
of a child that has suddenly missed its mother, down it falls in 
heavy drops, and the next instant — smiles again. 

As the air was very agreeable, I wandered up the hilly road 
which leads to Bad-Ems ; and then, strolling into a field of corn, 
which had been just cut, I continued to climb the mountain, until, 
turning round, I found, as I expected, that I had attained just the 
sort of view I wanted ; but it would be impossible to describe to 
tYie reader the freshness of the scene. Beneath was the long 
scrambling village of Langen-Schwalbach, the slates of which 
absolutely blooming from the shower they had just received, looked 
so very clean and fresh, that for some time my eyes quite enjoyed 



THE SUNSET. 93 



rambling from one roof to the next, and then glancing from one 
extremity of the town to the other; they had been looking at 
hot dazzling objects all day — I thought I never should be able to 
raise them from the cool blue wet slates. However, as the light 
rapidly faded, the landscape itself soon became equally refreshing, 
for the dry parched corn-fields assumed a richer hue, the green 
crops seemed bending under dew, and the whole picture, hills, 
town, and all, appeared so newly painted, that the colors from 
Nature's brush were too fresh to be dry. All of a sudden, majes- 
tically rolling up the valley, was seen a misty vapor, which at 
last reaching the houses, rolled from roof to roof, until it hovered 
over, or rather rested upon, the whole town ; and this was no 
sooner the case than the slates seemed all to have vanished ! 

In vain I looked for them, for the cloud, exactly matching them 
in color, had so completely disguised them, that they formicd 
nothing now but the base or foundation of the misty fabric which 
rested upon them. Instead of a blue village, Langen-Schwal- 
bach now appeared to be a white one ; for, the roofs no longer 
attracting attention, the shining walls burst into notice, and a ser- 
pentine line of glistening patches, nearly resembling a ridge of 
snow, clearly marked out the shape and limits of the town ; but 
as, in this elevated country, there is little or no twilight, the fea- 
tures of the picture again rapidly faded, until even this white line 
was hardly to be seen ; corn-fields could now scarcely be distin- 
guished from green crops — all became dark — and the large forest 
on the south hills, as well as the small woods which are scattered 
on the heights, had so completely lost their color, that they ap- 
peared to be immense black pits or holes. In a short time every- 
thing beneath me was lost ; and sitting on the gound, leaning 
against seven sheafs of corn piled up together, I was enjoying the 
sublime serenity, the mysterious uncertainty of the scene before 
me, when another very beautiful change took place ! 

I believe I have already told the reader that, besides myself, 
there were about 1200 strangers in the little village of Langen- 
Schwalbach. Of course every Hof was fully inhabited, and, as 
soon as darkness prevailed, the effect produced by each house 
being suddenly and almost simultaneously lighted up, was really 
quite romantic. In every direction, sometimes at the top of one 



04 BUBBLES. 



Hof, then at the bottom of another, lights burst into existence — < 
the eye attracted, eagerly flew from one to another, until, from 
the number which burst into life, it became quite impossible to 
attend to each. The bottom of the valley, like the dancing of 
fire-flies, was sparkling in the most irregular succession ; till, in 
a short time, this fantastic confusion vanished, and every room 
(there being no shutters) having its light, Langen-Schwalbach 
was once again restored to view — each house, and every story of 
each house, being now clearly defined by a regular and very 
pleasing illumination ; and while, seated in utter darkness, I gazed 
at the gay sparkling scene before me, I could not help feeling that, 
of all the beautiful contrasts in Nature, there can be no one more 
vivid than the sudden change between darkness and light. How 
weary we should be of eternal sunshine ! — how gloomy would it 
be to grope through one's life in utter darkness ! and yet what 
loveliness do each of these, by contrast, impart to the other ! On 
the heights above the village, how magnificent was the darkness 
after a hot sun-shining day ; and then, again, how lovely was the 
twinkling even of tallow candles, when they suddenly burst upon 
this darkness ! Yet it is with these two ingredients that Nature 
works up all her pictures ; and, as Paganini's tunes all come 
out of two strings of cat-gut, and two of the entrails of a kitten, 
so do all the varieties which please our eyes proceed from a mix- 
ture in different proportions of light and shade ; and indeed, in 
the moral world, it is the chiaro-oscuro, the brightness and dark- 
ness of which alone form the happiness of our existence. What 
would prosperity be, if there was no such sorrow as adversity ? 
what would health be, if sickness did not exist ? and what v>'ould 
be the smile of an approving conscience, if there was not the 
torment of repentance writhing under guilt ? But I will perse- 
cute the reader no longer with the reflections which occurred to 
me, as I sat in a wheat-field, gazing on the lights of Langen- 
Schwalbach. Good or bad, they managed to please me ; how- 
ever, after remaining in darkness, till it became much colder than 
was agreeable, I wandered back to my Hof, entered my dormito- 
ry, and my grey head having there found its pillow, as I extin- 
guished my candle, I mumbled to myself — '' There goes one of the 
tallow stars of Langen-Schwalbach ! — Sic transit gloria mundi !" 



THE SUNSET. 95 



I was lying prostrate, still awake — and (there being no shutters 
to the window at the foot of the bed) I was looking at some oddly- 
shaped, tall, acute-angled, slated roofs, glistening in the light of 
the round full moon, which was hanging immediately above 
them. The scene was delightfully silent and serene. Occasion- 
ally I faintly heard a distant footstep approaching, until treading 
heavily under the window, its sound gradually diminished, and 
all again was silent. Sometimes a cloud passing slowly across 
the moon would veil the roofs in darkness ; and then, again, they 
would suddenly burst upon the eye, in silvery light, shining 
brighter than ever. As, somewhat fatigued, I lay half enjoying 
this scene, and half dozing, I suddenly heard, apparently close to 
me, the scream of a woman, which really quite electrified me ! 

On listening, it was repeated, when jumping out of bed and 
opening the door, I heard it again proceeding from a room at the 
distant end of the passage ; and such was the violence of its 
tone, that my impression was — "the lady's room is on fire !" 

There is something in the piercing shriek of a woman in dis- 
tress which produces an irresistible effect on the featherless 
biped, called man ; and, in rushing to her assistance, he performs 
no duty — he exercises no virtue — but merely obeys an instinctive 
impulse which has been benevolently imparted to him — not for 
his own good, but for the safety and protection of a weaker and 
a better sex. 

But although this feeling exists so powerfully " chez nous," 
yet it has not by nature been imparted to commonplace garments ; 
such as coats, black-figured waistcoats, rusty knee-breeches, nor 
even to easy shoes, blue-worsted stockings or such like ; and, 
therefore, while, by an irresistible attraction which I could not 
possibly counteract, obeying the mysterious impulse of my 
nature, I rushed along the passage, these base unchivalric gar- 
ments remained coldly dangling over the back of a chair : in 
short, I followed the laws of my nature— they, theirs. 

With some difficulty, having succeeded in bursting open the 
door just as a fifth shriek was repeated, I rushed in, and there, 
sitting up in her bed — her soft arms most anxiously extended 
towards me — her countenance expressing an agony of fear — sat 



m BUBBLES. 



a young lady, by no nneans ill-favored, and aged (as nearly as 1 
could hastily calculate) about twenty-one ! 

Almost in hysterics, she began in German, to tell a long inco- 
herent story ; and though, with calm natural dignity, I did what 
I could to quiet her, the tears rushed into her eyes — she then 
almost in convulsions began, with her hands under the bed-clothes, 
to scratch her knees, then shrieked again ; and I do confess that 
I was altogether at a loss to conceive what in the sacred name of 
virtue could be the matter with the young lady, when, by her 
repeating several times the word " Ratten ! Ratten !" I at once 
comprehended that there v/ere (or that the amiable young person 
fancied that there were) — rats in her led / 

The dog Billy, as well as many puppies of less name, would 
instantly, perhaps, have commenced a vigorous attack ; rats, how- 
ever, are reptiles I am not in the habit either of hunting or de- 
stroying. 

The young lady's aunt, an elderly personage, now appeared at 
the door, in her night-clothes, as yellow and as sallow as if she 
had just risen from the grave ; — peeping over her shoulder, stood 
our landlady's blooming daughter in her bed-gown — Leonhard, 
the son, cum miiltis aliis. What they could all have thought of 
the scene, what they could have thought of my strange, gaunt, 
unadorned appearance — what they could have thought of the 
niece's screams — and what they would have thought had I deigned 
to tell them I had come to her bedside merely to catch rats — it 
was out of my power to divine : however, the fact was, I cared 
not a straw what they thought ; but, seeing that my presence 
was not requisite, I gravely left the poor innocent sufferer to tell 
her own story. *' Ratten ! Ratten !" was its theme ; and long 
before her fears subsided, my mind, as well as its frail body, 
were placidly entranced in sleep. 



THE CROSS OP ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 97 



THE CROSS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 



To an old man, one of the most delightful features in a German 
watering-place, is the ease with which he can associate, in the 
STQost friendly manner, with all his brother and si-ster water- bibbers, 
%vithout the fatigue of speaking one single word. 

Almost every glass of water you get from the brunnen adds, at 
least, one to the list of your acquaintance. Merely touching a 
man's elbow is sufficient to procure from him a look of good- 
fellowship, which, though it does not inconveniently grow into a 
bow, or even into a smile, is yet always afterwards displayed in 
his physiognomy whenever it meets yours. If, as you are stretch- 
ing out your glass, you retire but half a stride, to allow a thirsting 
lady to step forward, you clearly see, whensoever you afterwards 
meet her, that the slight attention is indelibly recorded in your 
favor. Even running against a German produces, as it were by 
collision, a spark of kind feeling, which, like a star in the heavens, 
twinkles in his serene countenance whenever you behold it. 
Smile only once upon a group of children, and the little urchins 
bite their lips, vainly repressing their joy whenever afterwards 
you meet them. 

Shrouded in this delightful taciturnity, my list of acquaintances 
at Langen-Schwalbach daily increased, until I found myself on 
just the sort of amicable terms with almost everybody, which, to 
my present taste, is the most agreeable. In early life young 
people (if I recollect right) are never quite happy, unless they are 
either talking, or writing letters to their fellow-creatures. When- 
ever, even as strangers, they get together, everything that hap- 
pens or passes seems to engender words — even when they have 
parted, there is no end to epistolary valedictions, and creation 
itself loses half its charms, unless the young beholder has some 
8 



5S BUBBLES. 

companion with whom the loveliness of the picture may be shared 
and enjoyed. 

But old age I find stiffens, first of all, the muscles of the tongue ; 
indeed, as man gradually decays, it seems wisely provided by 
Nalure that he should be willing to be dumb, before time sentences 
him to be deaf: in short, the mind, however voraciously it might 
once have searched for food, at last instinctively prefers rumina- 
tion, to seeking for more. 

By young people I shall be thought selfish, yet I do confess 
that I enjoy silence, because my own notions now suit me best ; 
other people's opinions, like their shoes, don't fit me, and however 
ill-constructed or old-fashioned my own may really be, yet use 
has made them easy : my sentiments, ugly as they may seem, 
don't pinch, and I therefore feel I had rather not exchange them ; 
the one or two friends I have lost rank in my memory better than 
any I can ever hope to gain : in fact, I had rather not replace 
them, and at Langen-Schwalbach, as there was no necessity for a 
passing stranger like myself to set up a new acquaintance with 
people he would probably never see again, I considered that, with 
my eyes and ears open, my tongue might harmlessly enjoy natural 
and delightful repose. 

But there is a perverseness in human nature, which it is quite 
out of my power to account for ; and strange as it may sound, it 
is nevertheless too true, that the only person at Langen-Schwal- 
bach I felt desirous to address, was the only individual who seem- 
ed to shun every human being. 

He was a withered, infirm man, who appeared to be tottering 
on the brink of his grave ; and I had long remarked that, for 
some reason or other, he studiously avoided the brunnen until 
every person had left it. He spoke to no one — looked at no one . 
— but as soon as he had swallowed off* his dose, he retired to a 
lone bench, on which, with both hands leaning upon his ivory- 
handled cane, he was always to be seen sitting with his eye 
sorrowfully fixed on the ground. Although the weather was, to 
every person but himself, oppressively hot, he was constantly 
muffled up in a thick cloak, and I think I must have passed him 
a hundred times before I detected, one exceedingly warm day, that, 
underneath it, there hung upon his left breast the Cross of the 



THE CROSS OF ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 99 

Order of St. John of Jerusalem. As, ages ago, I had myself 
passed many a hot summer on the parched, barren rock of Malta, 
— always, however, feeling much interested in the history of its 
banished knights, — ^I at once fully comprehended why the poor 
old gentleman's body was so chilly, and why his heart felt so 
chilled with the world. By many slow and scientific approaches, 
which it would be only tedious to detail, I at last managed, with- 
out driving him from his bench, most quietly to establish myself 
at his side, and then by coughing when he coughed, — sighing 
when he sighed,— and by other (I hope innocent) artifices, I at 
last ventured in a sotto voce to mumble to him something about 
the distant island in which apparently all his youthful feelings lay 
buried. The words Valetta, Civita Vecchia, Floriana, Cottonera, 
&;c., as I pronounced them, produced, by a sort of galvanic influence, 
groans — ejaculations — short sentences, until at last he began to 
show me frankly without disguise the real color of his mind. 
Poor man ! like his eye it was jaundiced — " nuUis medicabilis 
herbis !" I could not at all extract from him what rank, title, or 
situation he held in the ancient order, but I could too clearly see 
that he looked upon its extinction as the Persian would look upon 
the annihilation of the sun. Creation he fancied had been robbed 
of its colors, — Christianity he thought had lost its heart, and he 
attributed every political ailment on the surface of the globe to 
the non-existence of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John at Jeru- 
salem ! 

For several hours I patiently listened to his unhappy tale ; for 
as lamentations of all sorts are better out of the human heart than 
in it, I felt that as the vein was open, my patient could not be 
encouraged to bleed too freely : without therefore once contra- 
dicting him, I allowed his feelings to flow uninterrupted, and by 
the time he had pumped himself quite dry, I was happy to observe 
that he was certainly much better for the operation. On leaving 
him, however, my own pent-up view of the case, and his, continued 
for the remainder of the day bubbling and quarrelling with each 
other in mry mind. Therefore, to satisfy myself before I went to 
bed, T drew out in black and white the following sketch of what 
has always appeared to me to be a fair, impartial history of these 
— Knights of Malta. 



100 BUBBLES. 



The Mediterranean forms a curious and beautiful feature in the 
picture of the commercial world. By dint of money and shipping 
we laboriously bring to England the produce of the most distant 
regions, but the commerce of the whole globe seems to have a 
natural or instinctive tendency to flow, almost of its own accord, 
into the Mediterranean Sea. Beginning with the great Atlantic 
Ocean, which connects the old world with the new, we know that, 
over that vast expanse, the prevailing wind is one which blows from 
America towards Europe ; and, moreover, that the waters of the 
Atlantic are, without any apparent return, everlastingly flowing 
into the narrow straits of Gibraltar. When the produce of 
America, therefore, is shipping for the Mediterranean, in general 
terms it may be asserted that wind and tide are in its favor. 

Across the trackless deserts of Africa caravans from various 
parts of the interior are constantly toiling through the deep sand 
towards the waters of this inland sea. The traveller who goes 
up the Nile is doomed, w^e all know, to stem its torrent, but the 
produce of Egypt and the triple harvest of that luxuriant land is 
no sooner embarked, than of its own accord it glides majestically 
towards this favored sea ; and there is truth and nothing specula- 
tive in still further remarking, that this very harvest is absolutely 
produced by the slime or earth of Abyssinian and other most 
remote mountains, which by the laws of nature has calmly floated 
1200 miles through a desert to top-dress or manure Egypt, that 
garden which eventually supplies so many of the inhabitants of 
the Mediterranean with corn. 

Again, the Red Sea is a passage apparently created to connect 
Europe with the great Eastern world : and as the power of steam 
gradually increases in its stride, it is evident that by this gulf, or 
natural canal, much of the produce of India eventually will easily 
flow into the Mediterranean Sea. 

Finally, it might likewise be shown, that much of the commerce 
of Asia Minor and Europe, either by great rivers or otherwise, 
naturally moves towards this central point : but besides these 
sources of external wealth, the Mediterranean, as we all know, is 
most romantically studded with an archipelago and other beauti- 
ful islands, the inhabitants of which have the power not only of 
trading on a large scale with every quarter of the globe, but of 



THE CROSS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 101 

carrying on in small open boats a sort of little village commerce 
of their own. Among the inhabitants of this sea are to be found 
at this moment the handsomest specimens of the human race ; and 
if a person not satisfied with the present and future tenses of life, 
should prefer reflecting or rather ruminating on the past, with 
antiquarian rapture he may wander over these waters from Car- 
thage to Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, Rhodes, Troy, Ephesus, Athens, 
Corinth, Argos, Syracuse, Rome, &c., until, tired of this flight, 
he may rest on one of the ocean beaten pillars of Hercules — and 
seated there, he may most truly declare that the history of the 
Mediterranean is like the picture of its own waves beneath him, 
which one after another he sees to rise, break, and sink. 

In the history of this little sea, in what melancholy succession 
has nation and empire risen and fallen, flourished and decayed ; 
and if the magnifi:cent architectural ruins of these departed states 
mournfully offer to the traveller any political moral at all, is it 
not that homely one which the most common tombstone of our 
country church-yard preaches to the rustic peasant who reads it ? 

" As I am now, so you will be, 
Therefore prepare to follow me '" 

However, fully admitting the truth of the lesson which history 
and experience thus ofler to us — admitting that no one can pre- 
sume to declare which of the great Mediterranean powers is 
doomed to be the next to suffer — or w^hat new point is next to 
burst into importance ; yet, if a man were forced to select a 
position which, in spite of fate or fortune, feuds or animosities, 
has been, and ever must be, the nucleus of commerce, he would 
find that in the Mediterranean Sea that point, as nearly as pos- 
sible, would be the little island of Malta ; and that the political 
importance of this possession being now generally appreciated, it 
is curious rapidly to run over the string of little events which 
have gradually prepared, fortified, and delivered this valuable 
arsenal and fortress to the British flag. 

In the early ages of navigation, when men hardly dared to lose 
sight of the shore, ignorantly trembling if they were not abso- 
lutely hugging the very danger which we now most strenuously 
avoid, it may be easily conceived that a little barren island, 



102 BUBBLES. 



scarcely twenty miles in length or twelve in breadth, was of little 
use or importance. It is true that on its north coast there was a 
spit or narrow tongue of land (about a mile in length and a few 
hundred yards in breadth), on each side of which were a series 
of connected bays, now forming two of the most magnificent har- 
bors in the world ; but in the ages of which we speak this great 
outline was a nautical hieroglyphic which sailors could not deci- 
pher. Accustomed to hide their Lilliputian vessels and fleets in 
bays and creeks on the same petty scale as themselves, they did 
not comprehend or appreciate the importance of these immense 
Brobdignag recesses, nor did they admire the great depth of wa- 
ter which they contained ; and as in ancient warfare, when war- 
riors used javelins, arrows and stones, scalding each other with 
hot sand, the value of a position adapted to the present ranges of 
our shot and shells would not have been understood, in like man- 
ner was the importance of so large a harbor equally impercepti- 
ble ; and that Malta could have had no very great reputation is 
proved by the fact, that it is even to this day among the learned 
a subject of dispute, whether it was upon this island, or upon 
Melita in the Adriatic, that St. Paul was shipwrecked. Now if 
either had been held in any particular estimation, the question of 
the shipwreck would not now be any subject of doubt. 

As navigators became more daring, and as their vessels, in- 
creasing in size, required more water and provisions, &;c., Malta 
fell into the hands of various masters. At last, when Charles V. 
conquered Sicily and Naples, he offered it to those warriors of 
Christendom, those determined enemies of the Turks and Corsairs 
— the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. This sin- 
gular band of men, distinguished by their piebald vow of heroism 
and celibacy, had, after a most courageous resistance, been just 
overpowered by an army of 300,000 Saracens, who, under Soly- 
man II., had driven them from the Island of Rhodes, which had 
been occupied by their order 213 years. Animated by the most 
noble blood of Europe which flowed in their veins — thirsting for 
revenge — yet homeless and destitute^ it may easily be conceived 
that these brave, enthusiastic men would most readily have ac- 
cepted any spot on which they could once again establish their 
busy hive : yet so little was the importance of Malta, even at 



THE CROSS OF ST, JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 103 



that time, understood, so arid was its surface, and so burning was 
its rock, that, after minutely surveying it, their commissioners 
made a report to Charles V., which must ever be regarded as a 
most affecting document ; for although the Knights of Malta were 
certainly in their day " the bravest of the brave," although, by 
that chivalric oath which had bound them together, they had de- 
liberately sworn ''never to comit the number of their enemies,''^ yet 
after the strong, proud position which they had held at Rhodes, it 
was only hard fate and stern necessity that could force them to 
seek refuge on a rock upon which there was scarcely soil enough 
to plant their standard. But though honor has been justly term- 
ed " an empty bauble," j^et to all men's eyes its colors are so 
"very beautiful, that they allure and encourage us to contend with 
difficulties which no other advocate could persuade us to encoun- 
ter ; and so it was that the Knights of Malta, seeing they had no 
alternative, sternly accepted the hoi barren home that was offered 
to them, and in the very teeth, and before the beard of their bar- 
barous enemy, these lions of the Cross landed and established 
themselves in their new den.. 

When men have once made up their minds to stand against ad- 
versity, the scene generally brightens, far danger, contrary to the 
rules of dravi?^ing, is less in the foreground than in the perspective 
— difficulties of all sorts being magnified by the misty space 
which separates us from them ; and accordingly the knights 
%vere no sooner established at Malta, than they began to find out 
the singular advantages it possessed. 

The whole island being a rock of freestone, which could be 
worked with peculiar facility, materials for building palaces and 
houses, suited to the dignity of the Order, existed everywhere on 
the spot ; and it moreover became evident, that by merely quar- 
rying out the rock, according to the rules of military science, 
they would not only obtain materials for building, but that, in fact, 
the more they excavated for the town, the deeper would be the 
ditch of its ibrtress. Animated by this double reward, the 
knights commenced tlieir operations, or, in military language, 
they " broke ground ;" and, without detailing how often the rising 
fortress was jealously attacked by their barbarous and relentless 
enemies, or how often its half-raised walls were victoriously ce- 



104 BUBBLES. 



mented with the blood of Christians and of Turks, it will be sufl 
ficient merely to observe, that before the island had been in pos^ 
session of the Order one century, it assumed very nearly the 
same astonishing appearance which it now affords — a picture and 
an example, proving to the whole world what can be done by 
courage, firmness, and perseverance. 

The narrow spit or tongue of barren rock which on the north 
side of the island separated the two great harbors, was scarped 
in every part, so as to render it inaccessible by sea, and on the 
isthmus, or only side on which it could be approached by land> 
demi-lunes, ravelins, counter-guards, bastions, and cavaliers, were 
seen towering one above another, cxi so gigantic a scale, that, as 
a single datum, it may be stated, that the wall of the escarp is 
from 180 to 150 feet in height, being nearly five times the 
height of that of a regular fortress. On this narrow tongue of 
land, thus fortified, arose the city of Valetta, containing a palace 
for its Grand Master, and almost equally magnificent residences 
for its knights, the whole forming at this day one of the finest 
cities in the world. On every projecting point of the various 
beautiful bays contained in each of the two great harbors, sepa« 
rated from each other by the town of Valetta, forts were built 
flanking each other, yet all offering a concentrating fire upon any 
and every part of the port ; and when a vessel laboring, heaving^ 
pitching and tossing, in a heavy gale of wind, now suddenly en- 
ters the great harbor of Malta, the sudden lull — the unexpected 
calm — the peaceful stillness which prevails on its deep unruffled 
surface, is most strangely contrasted in the mind of the stranger 
with the innumerable guns which, bristling in every direction 
from batteries one above another, seem fearfully to announce ta 
him that he is in the chamber of death — in a slaughter-house 
from which there is no escape, and that, if he should dare to offer 
insult, although he had just escaped from the raging of the ele- 
ments, the silence around him is that of the grave ! 

It was frona the city and harbor of Valetta, in the state above 
described, — it was from this proud citadel of Christianity, that the 
Knights of Malta continued for some time sallying forth to carry 
on their uncompromising hostility against the Turks, and against 
the corsairs of Algiers and Tripoli ; but the brilliant victories 



THE CROSS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 105 

they gained, and the bloody losses they sustained, must be passed 
over, as it is already time to hurry their history to a close. 

The fact is, the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem 
gradually outlived the passions and objects which called them into 
existence, and their Order decayed for want of that nourishment 
which, during so many ages, it received from the sympathy, 
countenance, and applause of Christendom. In short, as mankind 
had advanced in civilisation, its angry, savage, intolerant passions 
had gradually subsided, and thus the importance of the Order 
unavoidably faded with its utility. There was nothing premature 
in its decay — it had lived long enough. The holy, or rather un- 
holy, war, with all its unchristian feelings, having long since sub- 
sided, it would have been inconsistent in the great nations of 
Europe to have professed a general disposition for peace, or to 
have entered into any treaty with the Turks, while at the same 
time they encouraged an Order which was mercilessly bent on 
their extermination. 

The vow of celibacy, once the pride of th^ Order, became, in 
a more enlightened age, a mill-stone round its neck ; it attracted 
ridicule — it created guilt — the sacred oath was broken ; and 
although the head, the heart, and the pockets of a soldier may be 
as light as the pure air he breathes, yet he can never truly be re- 
ported " fit for duty " if his conscience or his stomach be too 
heavily laden. In short, in two words, the Order of St. John of 
Jerusalem was no longer suited to the times ; and Burke had 
already exclaimed — '^ Tlie age of chivalry has fled P^ 

In the year 1798, this Order, after having existed nearly 700 
years, signed its own death-warrant, and in the face of Europe, 
died ignominiously — '-feJo de se.'^ On the 9th of June, in that 
year, their island was invaded by the French ; and although, as 
Napoleon justly remarked, to have excluded him it would have 
been only necessary to have shut the gates, Valetta was surren- 
dered by treachery, the depravity of which will be best explained 
by the following extract from a statement made by the Maltese 
deputies : — " No one is ignorant that the plan of the invasion of 
Malta was projected in Paris, and confided to the principal 
knights of the Order resident at Malta. Letters in cyphers were 
incessantly passing and repassing, without however alarming the 



106 BUBBLES. 



suspicions of the deceased Grand Master, or the Grand Master 
Hompesch." 

As soon as the French were in possession of the city, harbors, 
and impregnable fortresses of Valetta, they began, as usual, to 
mutilate from the public buildings everything which bore the 
stamp of nobility, or recalled to mind the illustrious actions which 
had been performed. The arms of the Order, as well as those 
of the principal knights, were effaced from the palace and princi- 
pal dwelling-houses ; hov/ever, as the knights had sullied their 
own reputation, and had cast an indelible blot on their own escut- 
cheons, they had but little right to complain that the image of 
their glory was thus insulted, when they themselves had been 
guilty of the murder of its spirit. The Order of St. John of Je- 
rusalem being now worn out and decayed, its elements were 
scattered to the winds. The knights who were not in the French 
interest were ordered to quit the island in three days, and a dis- 
graceful salary was accepted by the Grand Master Hompesch. 
Those knights who had favored the French were permitted to 
remain, but exposed to the rage of the Maltese, and unprotected 
by their false friends, some fled, some absolutely perished from 
want, but all were despised and hated. 

In the little theatre of Malta the scene is about to change, and 
the British soldier now marches upon its stage ! On the 
2d of September, 1798, the island was blockaded by the English, 
and the fortifications being absolutely impregnable, it became ne- 
cessary to attempt the reduction of the place by famine. 

For two years most gallantly did the French garrison undergo 
the most horrid suffering and imprisonment — steadily and cheer- 
fully did they submit to every possible privation — their stock of 
spirits, wine, meat, bread, dec, doled out in the smallest possible 
allowances, gradually diminished until all came to an end. 
Sooner than strike, they then subsisted upon the flesh of their 
horses, mules, and asses ; and when these also were consumed, 
and when they had eaten not only their cats, but the rats which 
infested the houses, drains, &c., in great numbers — when, from 
long-protracted famine, the lamp of life was absolutely expiring 
in the socket ; in short, having, as one of their kings once most 
nobly exclaimed, "lost all but their honor," these brave men — 



"THE CROSS OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM. 107 

with nerves unshaken, with reputation unsullied, and with famine 
proudly painted in their lean emaciated countenances — o§i the 4th 
^September, 1800^ surren-dered the place to that nation which Na- 
poleon has since termed ^^ the most powerful, the naost constant, 
^nd the most generous of his enemies." 

During the iong- winded game of war which France and Eng- 
land lately played together, our country surely never made any 
hotter mov-e than when she thus kid held of Malta. Even if the 
island had been in the rude state in which it was delivered 
to the knights of Jerusalem, still, to a maritime power like 
England, such splendid harbors in the Meditersranean would 
have been a most valuable conquest ; but when we not only ap- 
preciate their noble outline, but consider the gigantic and expen- 
sive manner in which this town has been impregnably fortified, as 
well as furnished with tanks, subterraneous stores, bomb-proof 
magazines, most magnificent barracks, palaces, (fee, it is quite 
delightful to reflect on the seiies of events which have led to such 
a well-assorted alliance between two of the strongest harbors in 
the world, and the first maritime power on the globe. 

If, like the French, we had taken the island from the knights, 
however degraded, worn out, and useless their Order might have 
become^ yet Europe in general, and France in particular, might 
always have reproached us, and, for aught we know, our own con- 
sciences might have become a little tender on the subject. But 
the delightful truth is, that no power in Europe can breathe a 
word or a syllable against our possession q£ the island of Malta 
' — it is an honor which, in open daylight, we have fairly won, and 
I humbly say, long^ very long, may we wear it I 

With .respect to the Maltese themselves, I just at this moment 
arecollcct a trifling story which will, I think, delineate tlieir cha- 
racter with tolerable acQuracy. 



108 BUBBLES. 



THE RENEGADE. 



Of all the little unhappy prejudices which in different parts of the? 
globe it has been my fortune or rather misfortune, to witness, I 
nowhere remember to have met with a deeper- rooted hatred or a 
more implacable animosity than existed, some twenty or thirty 
years ago, in the hearts of the Maltese towards the Turks. 

In all warm glowing latitudes, human passions, good as well 
as bad, may be said to stand at least at that degree which on 
Fahrenheit's scale would be denoted " fever heat ;" and stean> 
itself can hardly be more different from ice,— the Bengal tiger 
springing on his prey cannot form a greater contrast to that half- 
frozen fisherman the white bear, as he sits on his iceberg sucking 
his paws, — than are the passions of hot countries when compared 
with the cold torpid feelings of the inhabitants of the northern 
regions of the globe. 

In all parts of the Mediterranean I found passions of all sorts 
very violent, but,, without any exception, that which, at the period 
I refer to, stood uppermost in the scale, was bigotry. Besides the 
eager character which belonged to their latitude, one might 
naturally expect that the Maltese,, from being islanders, would be 
rather mm'e ignorant and prejudiced' than their continental neigh- 
bors ; however, in addition to these causes, when I was among 
them, they really had good reason to dislike the Turks, who during 
the time of the knights had been ex officio their constant and most 
bitter enemies. 

Whether these fine valiant knights of Jerusalem conquered the 
Turks or were defeated, the Maltese, on board their galleys (like 
the dwarf who fought with the giant), always suffered : besides 
this, their own little trading vessels were constantly captured by 



THE RENEGADE. 109 



the said Turks, the crews being not only maltreated and tortured^ 
but often in cold blood cruelly massacred ; in short, if there was 
any bad feeling in the heart of a Maltese, which the history of hig 
island as well as every bitter recollection of his life, seemed 
naturally to nourish, it was an implacable hatred for the Turks ; 
and that this sad theory was most fully supported by the fact, 
became evident the instant one observed a Maltese^ on the com- 
monest subject, utter that hated, accursed word, " Jwrco," or 
Turk. The sort of petty convulsion of the mind with which this 
dissyllable was delivered was really very remarkable, and the 
roll and flash of the eye— the little bullying shake of the head — • 
the slight stamp of the left foot — and the twitch in the fingers of 
the right hand, reminded one for the moment of the manner in 
which a French dragoon, when describing an action, mentions 
that his regiment came on " sahre a la main /" — words which, if 
you were to give him the universe, he could not pronounce with- 
out grinding his teeth, much less with that cold-hearted simplicity 
with which one of our soldiers would calmly say " sword in 
hand." 

This hatred of the Maltese towards the Turks was a sort of 
cat-and-dog picture which always attracted my notice ; however, 
I witnessed one example of it, on which occasion I felt very 
strongly it was carried altogether beyond a joke. 

One lovely morning — I remember it as if it were yesterday — 
there had been a great religious festival in the island, which, as 
usual, had caused a good deal of excitement, noise, and fever ; 
and, as a nation seldom allays its thirst without quarrelling, as 
soon as the hot sun set, a great many still hotter disturbances took 
place. In one of these rows, a party of Turks, justly or unjustly, 
became offended with the inhabitants ; an affray occurred, and a 
Mahometan having stabbed a Maltese, he was of course thrown 
into prison ; and in process of time, surrounded by a strong guard, 
he was led into the Maltese court to be tried (AngUce, condemned) 
for the offence. As he threaded his way through the crowd 
which had assembled in those dirty passages and dark chambers 
that led to the tribunal, the women shrank back as the " Turcn^' 
passed them, as if his very breath would have infected them with 
the plague ; while in the countenances of the men, as they leant 



110 BUBBLES. 



forwards arresting him in his progress, and almost touching him 
with their brown faces, it was evident that they were all animated 
with but one feeling and one desire, that is to say, hatred and 
revenge : however, nothing was heard but a very slight murmur 
or groan, and the prisoner was soan seen a little raised above the 
crowd, trembling at the bar. He was a diminutive, mean-look- 
ing, ill-favored little fellow, dressed in the loose Turkish costume, 
with a very small dirty white turban, the folds of which were 
deemed more odious to the Christian eye than if they had been 
formed by the wreathing body of the serpent. While the crowd 
were shouldering each other, head peeping over head, and before 
the shuffling of moving feet could be silenced, avvocaii, or clerks, 
who sat in the small space between the prisoner and the bench, 
were seen eagerly mending their pens, and they had already 
dipped them into the ink, and the coarse, dirty, rough-edged paper 
on which they w^ere to write was folded and placed ready in front 
of them, before it w^as possible to commence the trial. 

The court was insufferably hot, and there was such a stench 
of garlic and of clothing impregnated with the stale fumes of 
tobacco, that one longed almost as much as the prisoner to escape 
into the open air, while the sallow faces of the avvocaii, clerks, 
and every one connected with the duties of the court, showed 
how unhealthy, as well as offensive, was the atmosphere which 
they breathed. On the bench sat what one must call the Judges, 
but to an English mind such a title but ill belonged to those who 
had only lately been forced, most reluctantly, to expel torture 
from their code. Just before Malta fell into the hands of the 
French and English, my own servant, Giuseppe, had lived in the 
service of one of the Maltese Judges ; and among many horrors 
which he often very calmly described to me (for he had witnessed 
them until he had become quite accustomed to them), he told me 
that he had had constantly to pass through a court in which were 
those who were doomed to ride upon what was called the " cavallo 
di legno," or wooden horse. With weights attached to each foot, 
he used to see them sitting bolt upright on this sharp narrow ridge, 
with two torches burning within a few inches of their naked chests 
and backs, in order that they should relieve themselves by a change 



THE RENEGADE. ill 



of attitude no longer than they could endure the pain of leaning 
against the flame. But to return to the court. 

The trial of the Turk now began and every rigid form was 
most regularly followed. The accusation was read — the story 
was detailed — the Maltese witnesses in great numbers one after 
another corroborated almost in the same words the same state- 
ment — several times when the prisoner was ordered to be silent, 
as by some ejaculation he interrupted the thread of the narrative, 
did the eyes of every being in court flash in anger and contempt 
upon him, their countenances as suddenly returning to a smile 
as the evidence of the witnesses proceeded with their criminatory 
details. At last, the case being fully substantiated, the culprit 
was called upon for his defence. Although a poor, mean, illiter- 
ate wretch, it is possible he might have intended to have made a 
kind of a sort of a speech ; but when he came to the point, his 
heart failed him, and his lips had only power to utter one single 
word. 

Regardless of the crowd as if it had not existed, looking as if 
he thought there was no object in creation but the central Judge 
on the bench, he fixed his eyes for some moments upon his cold, 
sallow, immoveable countenance, until, overpowered by his feel- 
ings, almost sinking into the ground, he clasped his hands, and 
in an agony of expression, which it is quite impossible to describe, 
he asked for " Mercy !" 

" Nix standy ! I don't understand ye .'" said an old English 
soldier one day, in the Bois -de- Boulogne, to a French general, 
who, with much gesture and grimace, was telling him in French, 
that the English were acting against the law of nations in thus 
cutting down so beautiful a forest as the said Bois -de- Boulogne, 
^' Nix standy /" repeated the ruddy- faced soldier, continuing to 
hack with all his might at a young tree which he had almost cut 
down with his sabre. The very same answ^er was strongly ex- 
pressed in the countenance of the Judge to the petition of the 
unhappy Turk, who, had he been in the desert of Africa, might 
just as well have asked merely fof the ocean, as, in a Maltese 
court, to have supplicated for mercy. For some time the Judge sat in 
awful silence — then whispered a few w^ords to his colleagues — 
again all was silent : at last, when some little forms had been 



112 BUBBLES. 



observed, the Chief Judge pronounced a sentence on the prisoner, 
which he might just as well have done without his having endured 
the pain and anxiety of a long trial. It is hardly worth while 
mentioning the sentence ; for, of course, it was that the Turco, 
being guilty of the murder of the Maltese, was to be hanged by 
the neck till he was dead ; every word of which sentence was 
most ravenously devoured by the audience : and the trial being 
now over, the prisoner v/as hurried away "to his dungeon, while 
the crowd eagerly rushed into the hot sunshine and open air. 

A very considerable time elapsed between the sentence and the 
day fixed for execution. Where the prisoner was — what were 
his feelings — how he was fed — " and how he fared — no one knew, 
and no one cared ;" however, on the last day of his existence, I 
happened to be riding along Strada Forni, when I heard a bellow- 
ing sort of a blast from a cow's horn, which I instantly knew to 
be the signal that a fellow-creature was going to the gallows. In 
any country in the world, the monotonous moan which proceeds 
from this wild uncouth instrument would be considered as ex- 
tremely harsh and disagreeable : but at Malta, where the ear has 
been constantly accustomed to good Italian music, and to listen 
to nothing more discordant than the lovely and love-making notes 
of the guitar, this savage whoop was indescribably offensive, par- 
ticularly being accompanied by the knowledge that it was the 
death-march, and the dirge of the murderer — " the knell that 
summoned him to heaven or to hell !" 

As I rode towards Strada Reale, the principal street of Valetta, 
down which the procession was proceeding, a dismal blast from 
this horn was heard about every ten seconds ; and, as it sounded 
louder and louder, it was evident the procession was approaching. 
At last, on coming to the corner of the street, I saw the culprit 
advancing on his funeral car. The streets on both sides were 
lined with spectators, and every window was filled with out- 
stretched figures and eager faces. In the middle of Strada 
Reale, preceding the prisoner, were three or four mutes ; while 
several others were also begging in different parts of the town. 
These people, who belonged to some of the principal Maltese 
families, were covered from head to foot with long loose robes of 
white linen, a couple of holes being cut for their eyes. Their 



THE RENEGADE. 113 



feet were bare, and to each ankle was affixed a chain of such 
weight and length, that it was as much as they could do to drag 
one leg after the other. In the right hand they held a tin money- 
box, in the shape of a lantern, with death's head and bloody bones 
painted upon it. A small slit in this box received the copper 
contributions of the multitude ; and, as these mutes passed me in 
horrid triumph, shaking the box every step they took (the rattling 
of the money forming a sort of savage accompaniment to the 
deep clanking of their chains), they had altogether an unearthly 
appearance, which certainly seemed less to belong to heaven than 
to hell ; however, the malefactor now approached, and as soon as 
he came up to the corner of my street, I, loosening my rein, rode 
for a few moments at his side, attracted by one of the strangest 
scenes which I think I have ever beheld. The man was half- 
sitting, half-reclining, on a sort of low, rattling, iron vehicle, of an 
indescribable shape, which raised his head a little above the 
level of the people ; and the very moment I looked him in the 
face, much of the secret history of what had passed since the day 
of his condemnation was as legible in his countenance as if it had 
been written there. He had been existing in some dark place, 
for his complexion was blanched by absence from light ; he had 
evidently been badly fed, for there was famine in his sunken 
features ; his nerves were gone, for he was trembling ; his health 
had materially been impaired, either by suffering of body or 
mind, for the man was evidently extremely ill ; and last, though 
not least, for some mysterious reason, either from an expectation 
of obtaining mercy in this world or in the next, he had evidently 
abjured his religion, for his dirty white turban was gone, and, 
very ill at his ease, he sat, or rather reclined, in the clothes of a 
Christian ! 

The car on which he proceeded was surrounded by an immense 
number of priests, belonging to the different churches of Valetta, 
and apparently to those also of all the casals and villages in the 
island. All angry feelings had most completely subsided ; in 
their minds, as well as in the minds of the people, the day was 
one only of triumph and of joy ; and, intoxicated with the spirit 
of religious enthusiasm, the priests were evidently besides them- 
selves with delight at having succeeded in the miraculous conver- 



114 BUBBLES. 



sion which they had effected. Shouldering and pushing each 
other with all their strength, with outstretched arms, and earnest 
countenances, they were all, in different attitudes and voices, 
calling upon the malefactor to repeat the name of their own par- 
ticular saint ; some behind him were trying to attract his notice 
by pulling his clothes, while those before him, by dint of voice 
and gesture, were equally endeavoring to catch his eye ; and 
such a confused cry of " Viva San Tommaso !" " Viva San 
Giuseppe V " Viva San Giovanni !" " Viva San Paolo !" I will 
not pretend to describe. It v/as, of course, impossible for the 
wretch to comply v/ith all their noisy demands : yet, poor fellow ! 
he did his best ; and, in a low faint voice, being dreadfully ex- 
hausted by the jolting and shaking of the carriage, he repeated 
*' Viva San Paolo V &c., &c., as he caught the eye of the dif- 
ferent priests. He had evidently no rule in these exclamations 
which he uttered, for I observed that the strong brawny-shouldered 
priests, who got nearest to him, often made him repeat the name 
of their saints twice, before the little bandy-legged ones in the 
rear could get him to mention theirs once. As this strange con- 
cert proceeded, it was impossible to help pitying the poor culprit ; 
for, if one had been travelling from one magnificent palace to 
another, to be so jolted and tormented both in body and mind 
when one was ill, would by any of us have been termed dread- 
fully disagreeable ; but for all this to happen to a man just at the 
very moment he was going to be hanged — at that moment of all 
others in which any of us would desire to be left, at least for a 
few seconds, to his own reflections, appeared at the time to be 
bard indeed. After passing under the great gate and subterra- 
neous exit called Porta Reale, the procession wound its way 
across the drawbridges, and along the deep ditches, &c., of the 
fortification, until coming out upon the great esplanade which 
lies between Valetta and Floriana, an immense crowd of people 
was suddenly seen waiting round the gallows — at the sight of 
which I pulled up. The priests were now more eager than ever 
in beseeching the criminal to call upon the name of their saint ; 
the mutes, whose white robes in all directions were seen scattered 
among the people, were evidently shaking their boxes more 
violently than ever, while among the crowd there was a general 



THE RENEGADE. 115 



lifting of feet, which showed the intense anxiety of their feelings. 
As the procession slowly approached the gallows, I could not 
hear what was going on ; but in a very short time, from the dis- 
tance at which 1 stood, I saw the man led up the ladder by the 
executioner, who continued always a step or two above him : the 
rope was round his neck, and resting loosely on the culprit's 
head there was something like a round wooden plate, through a 
hole in the centre of which the rope passed. As soon as the 
poor creature got high up on the ladder, the vociferations of the 
priests suddenly ceased ; for a few seconds a dead silence en- 
sued, when, all of a sudden, there was a simultaneous burst or 
shriek of exclamation from priests and populace, echoing and 
re-echoing the words '^ Viva la Christianita !" which the man, in 
a low tone of voice, had just been persuaded to utter. All caps 
waved — every human being seemed to be congratulating each 
other on the delightful conversion ; and no person seemed to pay 
the slightest possible attention to the poor wretch, who, with the 
last syllable on his lips, had been pushed off the ladder, and was 
now calmly swinging in the air, the executioner standing on the 
loose wooden plate above his head, holding by the rope, and, with 
many antics, stamping with all his force to break the neck, while 
the people, in groups, were already bending their steps home- 
wards. Not wishing to encounter such a crowd, T turned my 
horse in another direction, and passed a number of mules and 
asses belonging to many of the people who had come from the 
most remote casals to see the execution. The animals were all 
standing half-asleep, nodding their heads in the sun — a herd of 
goats were as quietly grazing near the ramparts ; and when I 
contrasted the tranquillity which these animals were enjoying, 
with the scene I had just witnessed, I could not help feeling that 
I had more cause than Virgil to exclaim — " Sic vos non voMs .'" 

In returning from my ride, I had to cross the esplanade, and as 
there was then no one at the gallows, I rode close by it. The 
figure, which was still hanging, was turning round very slowly, 
as if it were roasting before the sun ; the neck was so completely 
disjointed, that the head almost hung downwards, and as I rode by 
it I was much struck in observing that the tongue was out of the 
mouth half bitten off — a dreadful emblem, thought I, of a renegade 



116 BUBBLES. 



to his religion ! Whether or not, the poor wretch had been 
induced to utter his last exclamation, from a hollow promise that 
it would save his life, is a mystery which will probably never on 
this earth be explained to us ; however, whatever was his creed, 
it is impossible to deny that when he swung from this world to 
eternity, he had but little reason to admire the practical part of a 
Roman Catholic's mercy, however beautifully and unanswerably 
its theory might have been explained to him. 

As soon as I got to Valetta, I put up my horse, and, strolling 
about the streets, soon found myself in the immense church of 
St. John, which, in point of size and magnificence, is only second 
in the world to St. Peter's, at Rome. The congregation was 
almost exclusively composed of the people who had attended the 
execution, and quantities of men as well as women, semi-shrouded 
in their black silk faldettes, were listening to a tall, strong-look- 
ing Capuchin friar, who, with great emphasis, was preaching 
from a high pulpit, placed at a projecting angle of one of the many 
chapels which ramified from the aisle or great body of the church. 
He was a remarkably handsome man, of about thirty, and though 
his face was pale, or rather brown, yet his eye and features were 
strikingly vivid and intellectual ; a rim or band of jet-black curly 
hair encircled his head, the rest of his hair by a double tonsure 
having been shaved at the top and from ear to ear ; his throat 
was completely uncovered, and as he suddenly turned from one 
part of his congregation to another, its earnest attitudes were very 
beautiful. His brown sack-cloth cowl rested in folds upon his 
shoulders, and the loose negligent manner in which a cloak of the 
same coarse material hung upon his body, being apparently 
merely kept together by the white rope, or whip of knots, which 
encircled his waist, displayed a series of lines which any 
painter might well have copied ; indeed, the whole dress of the 
Capuchin has been admirably well imagined, and above all others 
it is calculated to impress upon the mind of the spectator that its 
wearer is a man doomed to abstinence and mortification, seeking 
no enjoyment on this side of the grave, and never lowering his 
eyes from heaven, but fervently to exclaim — 

** Vain pomp and glory of the world, I hate ye !** 



THE RENEGADE. 117 



The subject of the sermon was, of course, the execution which 
we had all witnessed. The hard-hearted infidelity of the Turks 
was very richly painted and described, and the crime which they 
had just seen expiated was clearly proved to be the effect, and the 
natural eiiect, of a Mahometan's anger. The happy conversion 
of the infidel then became a subject which was listened to with 
the most remarkable stillness, and every eye was riveted upon 
the mouth of the Capuchin, as he minutely detailed the triumph 
and the conquest which had been made of the sheep which had 
that day, before their eyes, been added to the flock. He then ex- 
plained, or endeavored to explain (for it was no very easy task), 
that the money which had that morning been collected for the 
purchase of masses, proved to be just sufficient to purify the soul 
of the departed sinner ; but this, he very eloquently demonstrated, 
was only to be effected through the mediation of one whose image 
nailed to the cross was actually erected in the pulpit on his right 
hand. After expatiating on this subject at considerable length, 
working himself and hearers into a state of very great excitement, 
with both his arms stretched out, with his eyes uplifted, he most 
fervently addressed the figure, exclaiming in a most emphatic 
tone of voice — " Si f mio caro Signore ! Si .'" &c. The effect 
which was instantly produced in the hearts of his hearers was 
very evident, and the fine melodious voice, together with the 
strong, nervous, muscular attitude of the preacher, contrasted 
with the drooping, exhausted, lifeless, image above him, would 
have worked its effect upon the mind of any Christian spectator. 

As soon as the sermon was over, the congregation dispersed. 
The day ended in universal joy and festivity ; no revengeful ^ 
recollections — no unkind feelings were entertained towards him 
who had been the principal actor of that day ; on the contrary, 
the Maltese seemed rather to feel, that it was to him they were 
especially indebted for the pleasurable performances they had 
witnessed, and thus — 

«* In peaceful merriment ran down the sun's declining ray." 



IS BUBBLES. 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 



Time had glided along so agreeably ever since my arrival at 
Langen-Schwalbach, my body had enjoyed such perpetual motion, 
my mind such absolute rest, that I had almost forgotten, though 
my holiday was nearly over, I had not yet reached the intended 
ne plus ultra of my travels — namely, Schlangenbad, or the 
Serpents' Bath. On the spur of the moment, therefore, I ordered 
a carriage ; and, with my wallet lying by my side, having bidden 
adieu to a simple-hearted village, which, for the short remainder 
of my days, I believe 1 shall remember with regard, I continued 
for some time gradually to ascend its eastern boundary, until I 
arrived nearly at the summit or pinnacle of the Taunus hills. 
The view from this point w^as very extensive indeed, and the 
park-like appearance of the whole of the lofty region or upper 
story of Nassau formed a prospect at once noble and pleasing. 
The Langen-Schwalbach band of wind instruments was playing 
deep beneath me in the valley, but hidden by the fog, its sound 
was so driven about by the wind, that had I not recognized the 
tunes I but faintly heard, I should not have been able to deter- 
mine from what point of the compass they proceeded. Sometimes 
they seemed to rise, like the mist, from one valley — sometimes 
from another — occasionally I fancied they were like the hurricane, 
sweeping across the surface of the country, and once I could 
almost have declared that the ^olian band was calmly seated 
above me in the air. 

The numberless ravines which intersect Nassau were not 
discernible from the spot where my carriage had halted, and 
Langen-Schwalbach was so muffled in its peaceful retreat, that a 
stranger could scarcely have guessed it existed. 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 119 

From this elevated point the Taunus hills began gradually to 
fall towards Wiesbaden and Frankfurt ; but a branch road, 
suddenly turning to the right, rapidly descended, or rather 
meandered down a long, rocky, narrow ravine, clothed with beech 
and oak trees to its summit. 

With a wheel of the carriage dragged, as I glided fast down 
this romantic valley, the scenery, compared with what I had just 
left, was on a very confined, contracted scale — in short, nothing 
was to be seen but a trickling stream running down the grassy 
bottom of a valley, and hills which appeared to environ it on both 
sides ; besides this, the road writhed and bent so continually, that 
I could seldom see a quarter of a mile of it at once. 

After descending about three-quarters of a league, I came to a 
new turn, and here Schlangenbad, the Serpents' Bath, dressed 
in its magic mantle of tranquillity, suddenly appeared not only 
before, but within less than a hundred yards of me. 

This secluded spot, to whicli such a number of people annually 
retreat, consists of nothing but an immense old building, or ** Bad- 
Haus," a new one, with two or three little mills, which, fed, as 
it were, by the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table, are 
turned by the famous spring of water, after great, fine, fashionable 
ladies have done washing themselves in it. 

When the carriage stopped, my first impression (which through 
life but too often, I regret to say, has been an erroneous one) was 
not in favor of the place ; for, though its colors were certainly 
very beautiful, yet, from being so completely surrounded by hills, 
it seemed to wear some of the features of a prison ; and when, 
my vehicle driving away, I was first left by myself, I felt for a 
moment that the little band of music, which was playing upon the 
terrace above my head, was not quite competent to enliven the 
scene. However, after I had walked in various directions about 
this sequestered spot, sufficiently not only to become acquainted 
with its locale^ but to discover that it possessed a number of modest 
beauties, com.pletely veiled from the passing gaze of the stranger, 
I went to the old " Bad-Haus " to obtain rooms from the bath- 
master (appointed by the Duke), who has charge of both of these 
great establishments. 

I found the little man seated in his office, in the agony of 



120 BUBBLES. 



calculating upon a slate the amount of seven times nine ; per- 
ceiving, however, that instead of multiplying the two figures 
together, he had reared up a ladder of seven nines, which step by- 
step he was slowly ascending, I felt quite unwilling to interrupt 
him ; and as his wife appeared to be gifted with all or many of 
the little abilities in which he might have been deficient, I gladly 
availed myself of her obliging offer to show me over the two 
buildings, in order that I might select some apartments. 

The old "Bad-Haus," and Hotel de Nassau, which, being 
united together, form one of the two great buildings I have men- 
tioned, are situated on the side of the hill close to the macadamized 
road which leads to Mainz ; and to give some idea of the gigantic 
scale on which these sort of German bathing establishments are 
constructed, I will state, that in this rambling "Bad-Haus'' I 
counted 443 window^s, and that without ever twice going over the 
same ground, I found the passages measured 409 paces, or, as 
nearly as possible, a quarter of a mile !* 

Below this immense barrack, and on the opposite side of the 
road, is the new " Bad-Haus," or bathing house, pleasantly 
situated in a shrubbery. This building (which contains 172 
windows) is of a modern construction, and straddling across the 
bottom of the valley, the celebrated water, which rises milk-warm 
from the rock, after supplying the baths on the lower story, runs 
f^om beneath it. No sooner, however, does the fluid escape from 
the building, than a group of poor w^asher women, standing up to 
their knees on a sheet, which is stretched upon the ground, hum- 
bly make use of it before it has time to get to the two little mills 
which are patiently waiting for it about a couple of hundred yards 
below. 

After having passed, in the two establishments, an immense 
number of rooms, each furnished by the Duke with white window- 
curtains, a walnut-tree bed with bedding, a chestnut-tree table, an 
elastic spring sofa, and three or four walnut-tree chairs, the price of 
each room (on an average from lOd. to 2s. a-day) being painted 
on the door, I complimented the good, or, to give her her proper 
title, the " bad " lady who attended me, on the plain, but useful 

* The Hotel de Nassau has, I understand, been just pulled down, and is 
to be rebuilt on a new plan. 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 121 



order in which they appeared : in return for which she very 
obligingly offered to show me the source of the famous water, for 
the sake of which two such enormous establishments had been 
erected. 

In the history of the little duchy of Nassau, the discovery of 
this spring forms a story full of innocence and simplicity. Once 
upon a time there was a heifer, with which everything in nature 
seemed to disagree. The more she ate, the thinner she grew — the 
more her mother licked her hide, the rougher and the more staring 
was her coat. Not a fly in the forest would bite her — never was 
she seen to chew the cud, but hide-bound and melancholy, her 
hips seemed actually to be protruding from her skin. What was 
the matter with her no one knew — what would cure her no one 
could divine ; — in short, deserted by her master and her species, 
she was, as the faculty would term it, " given over." 

In a few weeks, however, she suddenly re-appeared among the 
herd, with ribs covered with flesh — eyes like a deer — skin sleek 
as a mole's — breath sweetly smelling of milk — saliva hanging in 
ringlets from her jaw ! Every day seemed to re-establish her 
health ; and the phenomenon was so striking, that the herdsman, 
feeling induced to watch her, discovered that regularly every 
evening she wormed her way, in secret, into the forest, until she 
reached an unknown spring of water, from which, having refreshed 
herself, she quietly returned to the valley. 

The trifling circumstance, scarcely known, was almost forgotten 
by the peasant, when a young Nassau lady began decidedly to 
show exactly the same incomprehensible symptoms as the heifer. 
Mother, sisters, friends, father, all tried to cure her, but in vain ; 
and the physician had actually 

*' Taken his leave with sighs and sorrow, 
Despairing of his fee to-morrow," 

when the herdsman, happening to hear of her case, prevailed 
upon her, at last, to try the heifer's secret remedy — she did so ; 
and, in a very short time, to the utter astonishment of her friends, 
she became one of the stoutest and roundest young women in 
the duchy. 

What had suddenly cured one sick lady was soon deemed a 



122 BUBBLES. 



proper prescription for others, and all cases meeting with success, 
the spring, gradually rising into notice, received its name from a 
circumstance which I shall shortly explain. In the meanwhile I 
will observe, that even to this day horses are brought by the 
peasants to be bathed, and I have good authority for believing^ 
that in cases of slight consumption of the lungs (a disorder com- 
mon enough among horses), the animal recovers his flesh with 
surprising rapidity — ^nay, I have seen even the pigs bathed, though 
I must own that they appeared to have no other disorder except 
hunger. But to return to the ^'bad" lady. 

After following her through a labyrinth of passages (one of 
which not only leant sideways, but had an ascent like a hill), she 
at last unlocked a door, which v/as no sooner opened, than I saw 
glide along the floor close by me a couple of small serpents ! As the 
lady was talking very earnestly at the time, I merely flinched 
aside as they passed, without making any observation ; but after 
I had crossed a small garden, she pointed to a door which she 
said was that of the source, and v/hile she stopped to speak to one 
of the servants, I advanced alone, and opening the gate, saw 
beneath me a sort of brunnen with three serpents about the size 
of vipers swimming about in it ! Unable to contain my surprise, 
I made a signal to the lady with my staff, and as she hurried 
towards me, I still pointed with it to the reptiles, as if to demand 
why, in the name of ^sculapius, they were allowed thus to con- 
taminate the source of the baths ? 

In the calmest manner possible, my conductress (who seemed 
perfectly to comprehend my sensations) replied, " Au contraire, 
c^est ce qui donne la qualite a ces eaux !'^ 

The quantity of these reptiles, or Schlangen, that exist in the 
woods surrounding the spring is very great ; and they of course 
have given their name to the place. When full grown they are 
about Ave feet long, and in hot weather are constantly seen gliding 
across the paths, or rustling under the dead leaves of the forest. 

As soon as the lady had shown me the whole establishment, she 
strongly recommended me to take up my abode in the old " Bad- 
Haus;" however, on my first arrival, in crossing the promenade 
in front of it, I had caught a glimpse of som.e talkative old ladies, 
whose tongues and knitting-needles seemed to be racing against 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS BATH. 123 

each other, which made it very advisable to decline the polite 
invitation ; and I accordingly selected apartments at one extremity 
' of the new Bad-Haus, my windows on the north looking into the 
shrubbery, those on the east upon the two little water-mills, 
revolving in the green lonely valley of the Schlangenbad. 

The cell of the hermit can hardly be more peaceful than this 
abode : it is true it was not only completely inhabited (there be- 
ing no more rooms unoccupied), but it was teeming with people, 
many of whom are known in the great world. For instance, 
among its inmates were the Princess Romanow, first wife of the 
late Grand Duke Constantino of Russia — the Duke of Saxe-Co- 
burg — the Prince of Hesse Homburg (wiiose brother, the late 
Landgrave, married the Princess Elizabeth of England), a Prus- 
sian minister from Berlin, and occasionally the Princess Royal of 
Prussia, married to the son of King Frederic William. No part 
of the building was exclusively occupied by these royal guests ; 
but paying for their rooms no more than the prices marked upon 
the doors, they ascended the same staircase and walked along the 
same passages with the humblest inmates of the place. Yet 
within the narrow dominion of their own chambers, visitors were 
received, with every attention due to form and etiquette. The 
silence and apparent solitude which reigned, however, in this new 
'- Bad-FIaus" was to me always a subject of astonishment and 
admiration. Sometimes a person would be seen carefully locking 
his door, and then, with the key in his pocket, quietly stealing 
along tlie passage ; at other times a lady might be caught on tip- 
toes softly ascending the stairs ; but neither steps nor voices were 
to be heard ; and far from witnessing anything like ostentation, 
it seemed to me that concealment was rather the order of the day. 
As soon as it grew dark, a single wick floating in a small glass 
lamp, open at the top, was placed at the two great entrance doors ; 
and another at each extremity of the long passages into which the 
rooms on every floor communicated, giving the visitors just light 
enough to avoid running against the walls : in obscure weather, 
there was also a lamp here and there in the shrubbery, but as 
long as the pale moon shone in the heavens, its lovely light was 
deemed sufficient. 

A table d'hdte dinner, at a florin for each person, was daily 



124 BUBBLES. 



prepared, for all, or any, who might choose to attend it ; and for 
about the same price, a dinner, with knives, forks, table-cloth, 
napkins, &c., would be forwarded to any guest, who, like myself, 
was fond of the luxury of solitude : coffee and tea were cheap in 
proportion. 

1 have dwelt long upon these apparently trifling details, because, 
humble as they may sound, I conceive that they maintain a very 
important moral. How many of our country people are always 
raving about the cheapness of the Continent, and how many every 
year break up their establishments in England to go in search of 
it ; yet, if we had but sense, or rather courage enough, to live at 
home as economically and as rationally as princes and people of 
all ranks live throughout the rest of Europe, how unnecessary 
would be the sacrifice, and how much real happiness would be 
the result ! 

The baths at Schlangenbad are the most harmless and deli- 
cious luxuries of the sort I have ever enjoyed ; and I really quite 
looked forward to the morning for the pleasure with which I paid 
my addresses to this delightful element. The effect the water 
produces on the skin is very singular : it is about as warm as 
milk, but infinitely softer ; and after dipping the hand into it, if 
the thumb be rubbed against the fingers, it is said by many to 
resemble satin. Nevertheless, whatever may be its sensation, 
when the reader reflects that people not only come to these baths 
from Russia, but that the water in stone bottles, merely as a cos- 
metic, is sent to St. Petersburg and other distant parts of Europe, 
he will admit that it must be soft indeed to have gained for itself 
such an extraordinary degree of celebrity : for there is no town 
at Schlangenbad, not even a village — nothing therefore but the 
real or fancied charm of the water could attract people into a 
little sequestered valley, which in every sense of the word is out 
of sight of the civilized world ; and yet I must say, that I never 
remember to have existed in a place which possessed such fas- 
cinating beauties ; besides which (to say nothing of breathing 
pure, dry air), it is no small pleasure to live in a skin which puts 
all people in good humor — at least, with themselves. But besides 
the cosmetic charms of this water, it is declared to possess virtues 
of more substantial value: it is said to tranquillize the nerves, to 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 125 

soothe all inflammation ; and from this latter property, the cures 
of consumption which are reported to have been effected, among 
human beings and cattle, may have proceeded. Yet whatever 
good effect the w^ater may have upon this insidious disorder, its 
first operation most certainly must be to neutralize the had effect 
of the climate, which to consumptive patients must decidedly be 
a very severe trial, for delightful as it is to persons in robust 
health, yet the keenness of the mountain air, together with the 
sudden alternations of temperature to which the valley of Schlan- 
genbad is exposed, must, I think, be anything but a remedy for 
weak lungs. 

The effect produced upon the skin, by lying about twenty 
minutes in the bath, I one day happened to overhear a short, fat 
Frenchman describe to his friend in the following words : — 
" Monsieur, dans ces hains on devient ahsolument amour eux de sou 
mcme V^ I cannot exactly corroborate this Gallic statement, yet 
I must admit that limbs, even old ones, gradually do appear as if 
they were converted into white marble. The skin assumes a sort 
of glittering, pho^horic brightness, resembling very much white 
objects, which, having been thrown overboard, in calm weather, 
within the tropics, many of my readers have probably watched 
sinking in the ocean, which seems to blanch and illuminate them 
as they descend. The effect is very extraordinary, and I know 
not how to account for it, unless it be produced by some prismatic 
refraction, caused by the peculiar particles with which the fluid 
is impregnated. 

The Schlangenbad water contains the muriates and carbonates 
of lime, soda, and magnesia, with a slight excess of carbonic acid, 
which holds the carbonates in solution. The celebrated embel- 
lishment which it produces on the skin, is, in my opinion, a sort 
of corrosion, which removes tan, or any other artificial covering 
that the surface may have attained from exposure and ill-treat- 
ment by the sun and wind. In short, the body is cleaned by it, 
just as a kitchen-maid scours her copper saucepan : and the 
effect being evident, ladies modestly approach it from the most 
distant parts of Europe. I am by no means certain, however, 
that they receive any permanent benefit ; indeed, on the contrary, 
I should think that their skins would eventually become, if any- 



J26 BUBBLES. 



thing, coarser, from the removal of a slight veil or covering, in- 
tended by Nature as a protection to the cuticle. 

But whether this water be permanently beneficial to ladies or 
not, the softness it gives to the whole body is quite delightful ; 
and with two elements, air and water, in perfection, I found that 
I grew every hour more and rhore attached to the place. 

On the cellar-floor, or lower story of my abode ('^ the New 
Bad-Haus"), where the baths are situated, there lived an old 
man and his wife, whose duty it was to prepare the baths, and to 
give towels, &c. I do not know whether the Schlangenbad wa- 
ters corrode the temper as well as the skin, yet certainly this old 
couple appeared to me continually quarrelling ; and every little 
trifle I required for my bath, though given to me with the greatest 
good will, seemed to form a subject of jealous dispute between 
this subterranean pair. The old woman, however, invariably 
got the best of the argument, — a triumph which I suspect pro- 
ceeded more from her physical than moral powers : in short, as 
is occasionally the case, the old gentleman was afraid of his 
companion ; and I observed that his attitude, as he argued, very 
much resembled that of a cat in a corner, w^hen spitting in the 
face of a terrier dog. Finding that they did not work happily 
together, I always managed to prevent both of them coming to 
me at once. The old woman, however, insisted on preparing my 
bath ; and, with a great pole in one hand, stirring up the water — 
a thermometer in the other, and a pair of spectacles blinded with 
steam on her nose, she very good-naturedly brought the tempera- 
ture of the water to a proper degree, which is said to be 27 of 
Reaumur. 

After I had had my bath, the old wife being out of the way, I 
one day paid a visit of compliment to her husband, who had 
shown, by many little attempted attentions, that he was, had he 
dared, as anxious as his partner to serve me. With great delight, 
he showed me several bottles full of serpents ; and then, opening 
a wooden box, he took out, as a fisherwoman would handle eels, 
some very long ones — one of which (first looking over his shoulder 
to see that a certain personage was away) he put upon a line, n' hich 
she had stretched across the room for drying clothes. In order, 
I suppose, to demonstrate to me that the reptile was harmless, he 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 127 

took it ofF the rope, along which it was moving very quickly ; 
and without submitting his project for my approbation, he sudden- 
ly plaoed it on my breast, along which it crawled, until, stretch- 
ing its long neck with half its body into the air, it held on, in a 
most singular manner, by a single fold in the cloth, which, by a 
sort o^ contortion of the vertebrse, it firmly grasped. 

The old man, apparently highly satisfied with this fii'st act of 
his entertainment, gravely proceeded to show living serpents of 
all colors and sizes, — -stufTed serpents, and serpents' skins — all 
of which seemed very proper hobbies to amuse the long winter 
evenings of the aged servant of Schlangenbad, or the Serpents' 
Bath. At last, however, the fellow's dry, blanched, wrinkled face 
began to smile. Grinning as he slowly mounted on a chair, he 
took from a high shelf a broad-mouthed, white glass bottle, and 
then in a sort of savage ecstasy, pronouncing the word " B arc- 
met !" he placed it in my hands. 

The bottle was about half full of dirty water — a few dead flies 
and crumbs of bread were at the bottom — and near the top there 
was a small piece of thin wood which went about half across the 
phial. Upon this slender scaffolding, its fishy eyes staring up- 
wards at a piece of coarse linen, which, being tied round the 
mouth, served as a cork — the shrivelled skin of its under-jaw 
moving at every sweltering breath which it took — there sat a 
large, speckled, living ^oad ! 

Like Sterne's captive, he had not by his side " a bundle of sticks, 
notched with all the dismal days and nights he had passed there ;" 
yet their sum-total was as clearly expressed in the unhealthy 
color of the poor creature's skin ; and certainly, in my life-time, 
I never had seen what might truly be called — a sick toad. 

It was quite impossible to help pitying any living being, con- 
fined by itself in so miserable a dungeon. However, the old 
man's eyes w^ere beaming with pride and delight at what he con- 
ceived to be his own ingenuity — and exclaiming "• Schones 
wetter!" (fine weather !) he pointed to the wood-work on which 
the poor creature was sitting — and then he exultingly explained 
that, so soon as it should be going to rain, the toad would clamber 
down into the water- "Barojiet!" repeated the old fellow, 



128 BUBBLES. 



grinning from ear to ear, as, mounting on the chair, he replaced 
his prisoner on the shelf. 

My first impression was " couie qui coute,'^ to buy this baro- 
meter, — carry its poor captive to the largest marsh I could find, — 
and then, breaking the bottle into shivers, to give him, what toads 
appreciate so much better than mankind — liberty ; but, on re- 
fleeting a moment, I felt quite sure that the old inquisitor would 
soon procure another subject for torture ; and, as with toads as 
with ourselves, " c^est le premier pas qui coute,'^ I thought it bet- 
ter that this poor heart-broken, imprisoned creature, to a certain 
degree accustomed to his misery, should exist in it, than that a 
fresh toad should suffer : it also occurred to me, that if I should 
dare to purchase his rude instrument, the ingenious, unfeeling old 
wretch of a philosopher might be encouraged to make others for 
sale. 

The old bath or " bad " man had vipers' nests, their eggs, and 
many other Caliban curiosities, which he was desirous to show 
me ; but, having seen quite enough for one morning's visit, and 
besides, hearing his wife's tongue coming along the subterranean 
passage, I left him — her — toad — reptiles, &;c., to fret away their 
existence, while I rose into far brighter regions above them. 

After ascending a couple of flights af stairs, I strolled for some 
time on the little parade, which is close to the entrance of the old 
*' Bad-Haus ;" but the benches being all occupied by people listen- 
ing to the band of music, and besides, not liking the artificial 
passages of hedges cut, without metaphor, to the quick, I bade 
adieu to the scene ; and, entering the great forest, with which 
the hills in every direction were clothed to their summits, I 
ascended a steep, broad road (across which a couple of schlan- 
gens glided close by me), until I came to a hut, from which there 
is a very pleasing home- view of the little valley of Schlangenbad. 
It is certainly a most romantic spot, and that it had appeared so 
to others was evident, from a marble pillar and inscription which 
stood on the edge of a precipice before me. The tale it com- 
memorated is simply beautiful. The Count de Grunne, the Dutch 
Ambassador at Frankfurt, having in the healthy autumn of his 
life come to Schlangenbad, with his young wife, was so enchanted 
with the loveliness of the country, the mildness of the air, and the 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 129 

exquisite softness of the water, that, quite unable to contain him- 
self, on a black marble column he caused to be sculptured, as 
emblems of himself and his companion, two crested schlangens, 
playfully eating leaves (apparently a salad) out of the same 
bowl — with the following pathetic inscription : — 

EN 

RECONNOISSANCE 

DES DEL.1CIEUSES SAISONS 

PASSEES ICI ENSEMBLE 

PAR 

CHARLES C^e DE GRUNNE 

ET 

BETSI Ctesse DE GRUNNE. 

1830. 

Leaving this quiet sentimental bower, and descending the hill, 
I entered the great pile of buildings of the old Bad-Haus, or 
Nassauer-Hof, and as I was advancing along one of its endless 
passages, I passed an open door, from which a busy hum pro- 
ceeded, which clearly proclaimed it to be a school. My grave 
Mentor-like figure was no sooner observed silently standing at its 
portal, than its master, a short, slight, hectic-looking lad, scarcely 
twenty, seemed to feel an unaccountable desire to form my ac- 
quaintance. Begging me to enter his small literary dominion, he 
very modestly requested leave to be permitted to explain to me 
the nature of the studies he was imparting to his subjects, the lit- 
tle creatures, from their benches, looking at me all the time with 
the same sort of fear with which mice look into the face of a bull- 
dog, or frogs at the terrific bill and outline of a stork. 

Having, by a slight inclination, accepted this offer, the young 
Dominie commenced by stating that all the children in Nassau are 
ohllged, by order of the Duke, to go to school, from six to fourteen 
years of age ; — that the parents of a child, who has intentionally 
missed, are forced to pay two kreuzers the first time, four the 
second, six the third, and that if they are too poor to pay these 
fines, they are obliged to work them out in hard labor, or are 
10 



130 BUBBLES. 



otherwise punished for their children's neglect ; — that the inhabit- 
ants of each village pay the schoolmaster among themselves, in 
proportions, varying according to their means, but that the Duke 
prescribes what the children are to learn — namely, religion, sing- 
ing, reading, writing. Scripture history, the German language, 
natural history, geography, and accounts ; — and tha- the mode of 
imparting this education is grounded upon the system of Pes- 
talozzi. 

This introductory explanation being concluded, the young 
master now displayed to me specimens of his scholars' writing — 
showed me their slates covered with sums in the first rules of 
arithmetic — and then calling up several girls and boys, he placed 
his wand in the hand of each trembling little urchin, who one by 
one was desired to point out upon maps, which hung against the 
walls, the great oceans, seas, mountains, and capitals of our globe. 
Having expressed my unqualified approbation of the zeal and at- 
tention with which this excellent young man had evidently been 
laboring, at the arduous, *' never-ending, still beginning " duties 
of his life, I was about to depart, when, as a last favor, he anx- 
iously entreated me to hear his children, for one moment, sing ; 
and striking the table with his wand, it instantly, as if it had been 
a tuning fork, called them to attention — at a second blow on the 
table, they pushed aside their slates and books — at a third, open- 
ing their eyes as wide as they could, they inflated their tiny lungs 
brimfuU — and at a fourth blow, in full cry, they all opened, to my 
no small astonishment, mouths which, in blackness of inside, 
exactly resembled a pack of King Charles's spaniels ! Had the 
children been drinking ink, their tongues and palates could not 
have been darker ; and though, accompanied by their master, 
the psalm they were singing was simply beautiful, and though 
their infantine voices streaming along the endless passages pro- 
duced a reverberation which was exceedingly pleasing, yet there 
was something so irresistibly comic in their appearance, that any 
countenance but my own would have smiled. 

The cause of the odd-looking phenomenon suddenly occurred to 
me, having, in the morning, observed several peasants, whose 
trowsers at the knees were stained perfectly black, by their having 
knelt down to pick bilberries, which grew on the forest-covered 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OK, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 131 

hills of Nassau in the greatest profusion. The children had evi- 
dently heen grazing en the same ground, and as soon as the idea 
occurred, I observed by their little black fingers that my solution 
of the dark problem was <)orrect. 

Returning to my residence, the -New Bad-Haus, the smi, though 
much less wea-ry than m=yself, having sunk to rest, I sat alone for 
some time in one of the bowers of the shrubbery belonging to the 
building. OccasiGnally a humian figure, scarcely visible from the 
deep shade of 'the trees, glided slowly by me, hut whether that of 
e prince era peasant I neither knew nor cared. What interested 
u\e infinitely more, was to observe the fi_re-flies, vv^hi<3h, v/ith small 
lanterns m their tails, were either soaring close above me, or 
sparkling among the bushes. The bright emerald-green light 
which they possessed was lovely beyond description, yet appa- 
rently they had only received permission to display it so long as 
they remained on the wing — and as two young ones, gliding be- 
fore me, rested for a moment on a rose-leaf, at my side, the in- 
stant they closed their wings, they were left together in total 
darkness. Some (probably old ones) steadily sailing, passed me, 
as if on business, while others, dancing in the air,1^iad evidently 
no object except pleasure ; yet, whether flying in a circle, or in a 
line, each little creature, as it proceeded, gaily illuminated its 
own way, and like a pure, cheerful, well- conditioned mind, it also 
■shed a trifling lustre on whatever it approached. 

As [ sat here alone in the dark, I could not dnve from my mind 
the interesting picture I had just been witnessing in the little vil- 
lage school of Schlangenbad. 

We are all, in England, so devotedly attached to that odd, easily 
pronounced, but difl^icult to be defi-ued word — liberty, that tliere is, 
perhaps, nothing we should all at once set o«r backs, our faces, 
and our heads against more, than a national compulsory system of 
'education, similar to that prescribed in Nassau ; and yet, if law 
lias the power to punish crime, there seems at first to exist no 
very strong reason why it should not also be permitted, by educa- 
tion, to prevent it. Every respectable parent in our country will 
be ready to admit, that the most certain recipe for making his son 
a useful, a happy, and a valuable member of society, is carefully 
to att-end to the cultivation of his mind. We all believe that good 



132 BUBBLES. 



seeds can be sown there, that bad ones can be eradicated — that 
ignorance leads a child to error and crime — that his mental dark- 
ness, like a town, can be illuminated — that the judgment (his only 
weapon against his passions) can, like the blacksmith^s arm, by 
use, be strengthened ; and if it be thus universally admitted that 
education is one of the most valuable properties a rational being 
can bequeath to his own child, it would seem to follow that a pa- 
rental government might claim (at least before Heaven) nearly 
as much right to sentence a child to education, as a criminal ta 
the gallows. Nevertheless, as a curious example of the differ- 
ence in national taste, it may be observed, that though in England 
judges and juries can anywhere be found to condemn the body, 
they would everywhere be observed to shrink at the very idea of 
chastening the mind ; they see no moral or religious objection to 
imprison the former, but they all agree that it would be a political 
offence to liberate the latter. Although our poor laws oblige 
every parish to feed, house, and clothe its offspring, yet in Eng- 
land it is thought wrong to enforce any national provision for the 
mind ; and yet the Duke of Nassau might argue, that in a civi- 
lized community children have no more natural right to be brought 
up ignorant than naked : in short, that if the mildest govern- 
ment be justified in forcing a man, for decency's sake, to envelope 
his body, it might equally claim the power of obliging him, for 
the welfare, prosperity, and advancement of the community — ta 
develope his mind. 

Into so complicated an argument I feel myself quite incompe- 
tent to enter, yet were I at this moment to be leaving this world, 
there is no one assertion I think I could more solemnly maintain 
— there is no important fact I am more seriously convinced of — 
and there is no evidence which, from the observation of my whole 
life, I could more conscientiously deliver, than that, as far as I 
have been capable of judging, our system of education in Eng 
land has produced, does produce, and as long as it be persisted in^ 
must produce, the most lamentable political effects. 

Strange as it may sound, I believe few people will, on refiec- 
tion, deny that a most remarkable difference exists between a 
man and what is termed mankind — ^in fact, between the intelli- 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS* BATH. 133 

gence of the human being and that of the species to which he 
belongs. 

If a man of common, or of the commonest abilities, be watch- 
ed throughout a day, it is quite delightful to remark how cleverly 
he adapts his conduct to the various trifling unforeseen circum- 
stances which occur — how shrewdly, as through a labyrinth, he 
pursues his own interests, and with what nimbleness he can alter 
his plans, or, as it is vulgarly termed, change his mind, the in- 
stant it becomes advisable for him to do so. Appeal to him on 
any plain subject, and you find him gifted with quick perception, 
possessed with ready judgment, and with his mind sparkling with 
intelligence. Now, mix a dozen such men together, and intellect 
instantly begins to coagulate ; in short, by addition you have pro- 
duced subtraction. One man means what he cannot clearly ex- 
plain — another ably expresses what he did not exactly mean — 
one, while disputing his neighbor's judgment, neglects his own — 
another indolently reclines his head upon his neighbor's brain — 
one does not care to see — another forgets to foresee — in short, 
though any one pilot could steer the vessel into port, with twelve 
at the helm she inevitably runs upon the rocks. Now, instead of 
a dozen men, if anything be committed to the care, judgment, or 
honor of a large body, or, as it is not improperly termed, a " cor- 
poration " of men, their torpor, apathy, and sloth are indefinitely 
increased, and when, instead of a corporation, it be left to that 
nonentity, a whole nation — the total neglect it meets with is be- 
yond all remedy. In short, the individuals of a community, 
compared with the community itself, are like a swarm of bees, 
compared with bees that have swarmed or clung together in a 
lump, and as the countryman stands shaking the dull mass from 
the bough, one can scarcely believe that it is composed of little, 
active, intelligent, busy creatures, each armed with a sting as 
well as with knowledge, and arrangements which one can hardly 
sufficiently admire. If this theory be correct, it will account at 
once for our unfortunate system of education in England, which 
being everybody's duty, is therefore nobody's duty, and which, 
like 

** The child whom many fathers share, 
Has never known a father's care." 



54 BUBBLES. 



In the evening of a long, toilsome life, if a man were to be 
obliged solemnly to declare what, without any exception, has been 
the most lovely thing v/hich on the surface of this earth it has 
been his good fortune to witness, I conceive that, without hesita- 
tion, he might reply — The mind of a young child. Indeed, if we 
believe that creation, with all its charms, was beneficently made 
for man, it seems almost to follow that his mind, that mirror in 
which every minute object is to be reflected, must be gifted with a 
polish sufficiently high to enable it to receive the lovely and 
delicate images created for its enjoyment. Accordingly, we ob- 
serve with what delight a child beholds light — colors — flowers — 
fruit — and every new object that meets his eye ; and we all know 
that before his judgment be permitted to interfere, for many years 
he feels, or rather suffers, a thirst for information which is almost 
insatiable. 

He desires, and very naturally desires, to know what the moon 
is ? what are the stars ? — where the rain, wind, and storm come 
from ? With innocent simplicity he asks, what becomes of the 
light of a candle when it is blown out ? Any story or any his- 
tory he greedily devours ; and so strongly does his youthful mind 
retain every sort of image impressed upon it, that it is well known 
his after life is often incapable of obliterating the terror depicted 
there by an old nurse's tale of ghosts, and hobgoblins of dark- 
ness. 

Now with their minds in this pure, healthy, voracious state, the 
sons of all our noblest families, and of the most estimable people 
of the country, are, after certain preparations, eventually sent to 
those slaughter-houses of the understanding, our public schools, 
where, weaned from the charms of the living world, they are 
nailed to the study of two dead languages — like galley-slaves, 
they are chained to these oars, and are actually flogged if they 
neglect to labor. Instead of imbibing knowledge suited to their 
youthful age, they are made to learn the names of Actaeon's 
hounds — to study the life of Alexander's horse — to know the fate of 
Alcibiades's dog ; — in short, it is too well known that Dr. Lem- 
priere made 3000Z. a-year by the sale of a dictionary, in which he 
had amassed, " for the use of schools," tales and rubbish of this 
description. The poor boy at last "gets," as it is termed, " into 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 135 

Ovid," where he is made to study everything which human inge- 
nuity could invent to sully, degrade, and ruin the mind of a young 
person. The Almighty Creator of the universe is caricatured by 
a set of grotesque personages, termed gods and goddesses, so 
grossly sensual, so inordinately licentious, that were they to-day 
to appear in London, before sunset they would probably be every 
one of them where they ought to be — at the tread-mill. The poor 
boy, however, must pore over all their amours, natural and unna- 
tural ; — he must learn by heart the birth, parentage, and educa 
tion of each, with the biography of their numerous offspring, 
earthly as well as unearthly. He must study love-letters from 
the heavens to the earth, and metamorphoses which have almost 
all some low, impure object. The only geography he learns is 
*^ the world known to the ancients." Although a member of the 
first maritime nation on the globe, he learns no nautical science 
but that possessed by people who scarcely dared to leave their 
shores : all his knowledge of military life is that childish picture 
of it which might fairly be entitled "war without gunpowder." 
But even the little which on these subjects he does learn, is so 
mixed up with fable, that his mind gets puzzled and debilitated to 
such a degree, that he becomes actually unable to distinguish 
truth from falsehood ; and when he reads that Hannibal melted 
the Alps with vinegar, he does not know whether it be really true 
or not. 

In this degraded state, with the energy and curiosity of their 
young minds blunted — actually nauseating the intellectual food 
which they had once so naturally desired, a whole batch of boys 
at the age of about fourteen* are released from their schools to go 
on board men-of-war, where they are to strive to become the 
heroes of their day. They sail from their country ignorant of 
almost everything that has happened to it since the days of the 

* At this age I myself left my classical school, scarcely knowing the 
name of a single river in the new world— tired almost to death of the history 
of the Ilissus. In after life I entered a river of America more than five times 
as broad as from Dover to Calais — and with respect to the Hissus, which 
had received in my mind such distorted importance, I will only say, that 
I have repeatedly walked across it in about twenty seconds, without wetting 
my ankles. 



136 BUBBLES. 



Romans — having been obliged to look upon all the phenomena of 
nature, as well as the mysteries of art, without explanation, their 
curiosity for information on such subjects has subsided. They 
lean against the capstan, but know nothing of its power — they are 
surrounded by mechanical contrivances of every sort, but under- 
stand them no more than they do the stars in the firmament. 
They steer from one country to another, ignorant of the customs, 
manners, prejudices, or languages of any ; they know nothing of 
the effect of climate — it requires almost a fever to drive them from 
the sun ; in fact, they possess no practical knowledge. The first 
lesson they learn from adversity is their own guiltless ignorance, 
and no sooner are they in real danger, than they discover how ill 
spent has been the time they have devoted to the religion of the 
heathen — how vain it is in affliction to patter over the names of 
Actseon and his hounds ! 

That in spite of all these disadvantages, a set of high-bred, 
noble-spirited young men eventually become, as they really do, 
an honor to their country, is no proof that their early education 
has not done all in its power to prevent them. But, to return to 
those we left at our public schools. 

As these boys rise, they become, as we all know, more and 
more conversant in the dead languages, until the fatal period 
arrives, when, proudly laden with these two panniers, they proceed 
to one of our universities. Arriving, for instance, at Oxford, they 
find a splendid high street, magnificently illuminated with gas, 
filled with handsome shops, traversed by the mail, macadamized, 
and, like every other part of our great commercial country, 
beaming with modern intelligence. In this street, however, they 
are not permitted to reside, but, conducted to the right and left, 
they meander among mouldering monastic-looking buildings, until 
they reach the cloisters of the particular college to which they are 
sentenced to belong. By an ill-judged misnomer, they are from 
this moment encouraged, even by their preceptors, to call each 
other men ; and a man of seventeen, " too tall for school,'' talks 
of another man of eighteen, as gravely as I always mention the 
name of my prototype Methuselah. What their studies are will 
sufflciently appear from what is required of them, when they come 
before the public as candidates for their degrees. At this exami- 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 137 

nation, which is to give them, throughout their country, the rank 
of finished scholars, these self-entitled iiien are gravely examined 
first of all in Divinity, — and then, as if in scorn of it, almost in the 
same breath, they descant about the God of this vice, and the God 
of that ; in short, they are obliged to translate any two heathen 
authors in Latin, and any other two in Greek, they themselves 
may select. They are next examined in Aristotle's moral philoso- 
phy, and their examination, like their education, being now con- 
cluded, their minds being now decreed to be brimfull, they are 
launched into their respective grades of society, as accomplished, 
polished men, who have reaped the inestimable advantages of a 
good classical education. But it is not these gentlemen I presume 
to ridicule ; on the contrary, I firmly believe that the 1200 stu- 
dents, who at one time are generally at Oxford, are as high- 
minded, as highly talented, as anxious to improve themselves, as 
handsome, and, in every sense of the word, as fine a set of lads 
as can anywhere be met with in a body on the face of the globe. 
I also know that all our most estimable characters, all the most 
enlightened men our country has ever produced, have, generally 
speaking, been members of one of our universities ; but, in spite 
of all this, will any reasonable being seriously maintain that the 
workmanship has been eTJual to the materials ? I mean, that their 
education has been equal to themselves ? 

Let any one weigh what they have not learnt against what 
they have, and he will find that the difference is exactly that 
which exists between creation itself and a satchel of musty books. 
I own they are skilfully conversant in the latter ; I own that they 
have even deserved prizes for having made verses in imitation of 
Sappho — odes in imitation of Horace — epigrams after the model 
of the Anthologia, as well as after the mode of Martial ; but what 
has the university taught them of the former ? Has it even in- 
formed them of the discovery of America ? Has it given them 
the power of conversing with the peasant of any one nation in 
Europe ? Has it explained to them any one of the wonderful 
works of creation ? Has it taught them a single invention of art ? 
Has it shown the young landed proprietor how to measure the 
smallest field on his estate ? Has it taught him even the first 
rudiments of economy ? Has it explained to him the principle of 



138 BUBBLES. 



a common pump ? Has it fitted him in any way to stand in that 
distinguished situation which by birth and fortune he is lionestly 
entitled to hold ? Has it given him any agricultural information, 
any commercial knowledge, any acquaintance with mankind, or 
with business of any sort or kind ; and lastly, has it made him 
modestly sensible of his own ignorance ? — or has it, on the con- 
trary, done all in its power to make him feel not only perfectly 
satisfied with his own acquirements, but contempt for those whose 
minds are only filled with plain useful knowledge ? 

But it will be proudly argued, " The University has taught 
HIM Divinity !" In theory, I admit it may have done so ; but, 
in all his terms, has the student practically learnt as much of 
Omnipotence as the hurricane could explain to him in five 
minutes ? To teach young lads the simple doctrines of Christi- 
anity, is it advisable to hide from their minds creation ? Is it 
advisable to allow them to remain out of their colleges till mid- 
night ? But taking leave of the university, let us, for a moment, 
consider the political effects of its cramped, short-sighted, narrow- 
minded system. 

On quitting their colleges, our young men, instead of being 
sensible that, although they have read much that is ornamental, 
their education has scrupulously avoided all that is useful — 
instead of modestly feeling that they have to make up for lost 
time, and to fight their way from nothing to distinction, like sub- 
altern officers in our army, or like midshipmen in the navy, they 
have very great reason to consider that, far from being literary 
vessels, rudely put together, they are launched into society as 
perfect as a frigate from its dock ! 

With respect to the drudgery of gaining honors, they feel that 
they already possess them, can produce them, and true enough, 
they show 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class honors, which are 
as current in the country as the coin of the realm ; and with 
respect to their education being imperfect, by universal consent, it 
has for centuries been coupled with the most flattering adjectives ; 
— it is termed polite — elegant — accomplished — good — complete — 
excellent — regular — classical, &c., &c. In literary creation these 
young men conceive that they are luminaries, not specks — orna- 
ments, not blemishes ! not merely in their own opinions, but by 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 139 

universal consent and acclamation. Their political place is unde- 
niably, therefore, the helm, not before tlie mast ; they are to guide, 
conduct, steer the vessel of the state, not ignobly labor at its oar ! 

Accordingly, when they take their places in both houses of 
Parliament, plunging at once into their own native element, they 
rise up in the immediate presence of noblemen and gentlemen who 
not only boast of having received exactly the same education as 
themselves, but who, as youths, have proudly won the self-same 
honors which they enjoy ; and I here very humbly beg leave again 
to repeal, that because our Parliament maintains, and always has 
maintained, a front rank of men of undaunted resolution, tran- 
scendant abilities, brilliant natural genius, and clear, comprehen- 
sive, enlightened minds, it does not follow that the system of our 
public schools and universities must necessarily be practically 
good. On the contrary, it only proves that human institutions 
can no more extinguish the native virtue, talent, and integrity of 
a country, than they can hide from the world the light of the sun ; 
but education can misdirect, though it cannot annihilate ; it can 
give the national mind a hankering for unwholesome instead of 
wholesome food, — it can encourage a passion for useless instead 
of useful information. On its course high-bred lads may be 
trained to race against each other, until the vain object they have 
strived for can never in after-life re-appear, but their blood warms 
within them. 

Now supposing, for a single moment, that English education be 
admitted to be as useless and dangerous as I have endeavored to 
describe it, let us consider what might naturally be expected to be 
its practical political effects. 

In our two houses of Parliament, classical eloquence would 
unavoidably become the order of the day, and classical allusions, 
when neatly expressed, would always receive that heartfelt 
cheer which even the oldest among us are unable to withhold 
from what reminds us of the pleasures and attachments of our 
early days. Thus encouraged, young statesmen would feel their 
power rather than their inexperience ; and, with their minds stored 
v/ith knowledge declared to possess intrinsic value, they would 
not be very backward in displaying it. Language, rather than 
matter, would thus become the object of emulation — speeches 



140 BUBBLES. 



would swell into orations — and, in this contention and conflict of 
genius, men of cleverness, ready wit, brilliant imagination, reten- 
tive memory, caustic reply, and last, though not least, soundness 
of constitution, would rise to the surface, far above those who, 
with much deeper reflection, much heavier sense, more sterling 
knowledge, and more powerful judgment, were yet found to be 
wanting in activity in their parts of speech. Baflled, therefore, in 
their laconic attempts to expound their uninteresting, ledger-like, 
unfashionable opinions, this useful class of men would probably, 
by silence or otherwise, retire from the unequal contest, which 
would become more and more of an art, until extraordinary talent 
was required to carry political questions so plain and simple, that 
were votes to be given by any set of humdrum men, there would 
scarcely be a difference in their opinions. 

In the midst of this civil war, a young man, scarcely one-and- 
twenty, would be very likely rapidly to rise to be the Prime 
Minister of our great commercial country ! for although, if this 
world teaches us any one moral, it is, that youth and inexperience 
are synonymous ; yet when talent only be the palm, surely none 
have better right to contend for it than the young ! 

Seated on the exalted pinnacle which he has most fairly and 
honorably attained, if not by general acclamation, at least by the 
applauding voice of the majority, he must, of course, stand 
against the intellectual tempest which has unnaturally brought a 
person of his age to the surface. Accordingly, by the main 
strength of his youthful genius, by his admitted superiority of 
talent, this beardless pilot would probably triumphantly maintain 
his place at the helm — requiring, however, support from those of 
his admirers most approaching in eloquence to himself. To 
obtain the services of some great orator, he would ( copying the 
system of his opponents) be induced to appoint a man, for instance, 
Secretary for the Colonies, who on this earth had never reached 
the limits even of its temperate zone ; another, who had not heard 
a shot fired, or even seen a shell in the air, would, perhaps, be 
created Master-General of our Ordnance ; in short, talent being 
the weapon or single-stick of Parliament, he would, like others 
before him, arm himself with it at any cost, and thus reign 
triumphant. 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 141 

However, without supposing such an extreme case, let us 
fearlessly recall to mind a miserable fact almost of yesterday. 
In the fatal year 1825, the British government conceived the 
purely classical and highly poetical idea of " bringing a new 
world into existence !" Most people will remember with what 
flowery eloquence the elegant project was laid before Parliament, 
and how loudly and generally it was cheered — the blind were 
led by the blind — all our senators being equally charmed at the 
splendid possibility of their thus politically dabbling in creation. 
The truth or moral, however, came upon us at last, like the 
simoom upon the traveller who ignorantly ventures on the deserts 
of Africa. The country almost foundered, and though she has to 
a certain degree recovered from the shock, yet thousands of 
v/idows, orphans, and people of small incomes, are to this day, in 
indigence and sorrow, secretly lamenting the hour in which the 
high-flown but ignorant parliamentary project was disseminated. 

The charity, pater-noster system of education pursued to this 
day at our universities and public schools has produced other his- 
torical facts, which it is now equally out of our power to oblite- 
rate, atone for, or deny. For instance, we all know that in five 
years Charles II. touched 23,601 of his subjects for the evil : — 
that our bishops invented (just as Ovid wrote his " Metamor- 
phoses") a sort of heathen service for the occasion ; — that the 
unchristianlike, superstitious ceremony was performed in public ; 
and that as soon as prayers were ended, we are told, " The Duke 
of Buckingham hrouglii a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin 
and ewer, who, after they had made obeisance to his Majesty, kneeled 
down till his Majesty had washed.^' 

Again, everybody knows that Amy Drury and her daughter, 
eleven years of age, were tried before " the great and good Sir 
Matthew Hale," then Lord Chief Baron, for witchcraft, and Avere 
convicted and executed at Bury St. Edmund's principally on the 
evidence of Sir Thomas Brown, one of the first physicians and 
scholars of his day : also that Dr. Wiseman, an eminent surgeon 
of that period, in writing on scrofula, says — " However, I must 
needs profess that His Majesty [Charles II,) cureth more in any 
one year than all the chirurgeons of London have done in an age.'' 

The above degrading facts are moral tragedies, which were 



142 BUBBLES. 



not acted in a dark corner, by a few obscure strolling individuals — • 
not even by any great political faction, — but the audience was the 
British nation — the performers the King on his throne — the bishops, 
the nobility, the judges, the physicians, the philosophers of the 
day. In short, theory and practice, hand in hand, both prove to 
the whole world the double error in our system of education. 
Says theory — if young people, instead of being taught to look at 
the ground under their feet, at the heaven above their head, or at 
creation around them, are forced by the rod to study events that 
never happened, speeches that never were made, metamorphoses 
that never took place, forms of worship and creeds ridiculous and 
impious, such a nation must inevitably grow up narrow-minded, 
ignorant, superstitious, and cruel. Says practice — this prophecy 
has been most fatally fulfilled ; and in England, people have 
believed in witchcraft — have put savage faith in the King's 
touch — and, under the name of a mild and merciful religion, 
they have burnt each other to ashes at the stake ! 

The mute steadiness of British troops under fire, — the total 
want of bluster or bravado in our naval actions — where, as we 
all know, 

** There is silence deep as death. 
And the boldest holds his breath 
For a time," — 

the laconic manner in which business all over England is trans- 
acted (millions being exchanged with little more than a nod of 
assent) — in short, our national respect for silent conduct — form a 
most extraordinary contrast with the flatulent eloquence of our 
parliamentary debates. 

But to return to our houses of Parliament : shall we now pro- 
ceed to calculate what would be the expense of such a system of 
government or misgovernment as that which has just been shown 
to have proceeded, not from the imbecility of individuals, but 
from the system of false education maintained by our public 
schools and universities ? No ! No ! for the history of our coun- 
try has already solved this great problem, and, at this moment, 
does it record to our posterity, as well as promulgate to the 
whole world, that the expense of a great mercantile nation, 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 143 

looking behind it instead of before it — the price of its statesnnen 
studying ancient poets instead of modern discoveries — of mistak- 
ing the " orbis veteribus cognitus" for the figure of the earth, 
amounts to neither more nor less than a national debt of eighi 
HUNDRED MILLIONS of English pounds sterling ! In short, economy 
having fatally been classed at our universities among the vulgai 
arts, the current expenses of our statesmen have naturally 
enough been ordered to be put down to their children, just as 
their college bills were carelessly ordered to be forwarded to their 
fathers. 

However, so long as a nation is willing to purchase at the above 
enormous, or at any still greater price, the luxury of reading 
Greek and Latin poetry, the misfortune at first appears to be only 
pecuniary ; and it might almost further be argued, that a nation, 
like an individual, ought to be allowed to squander its money 
according to its own whim or fancy ; but, though this may or may 
not be true so far as our money be concerned, yet there is an 
event which must arrive, and in England this event has just 
ARRIVED, when a continuance of such a mode of education must 
inevitably destroy our church, aristocracy, funds ; in short, every- 
thing which a well-disposed mind loves, venerates, and is desirous 
to uphold. 

The fearful event to which 1 allude is that of the lower classes 
of people becoming enlightened. 

In spite of all that party spirit angrily asserts to the contrary, 
most firmly do I believe that there does not exist, in England, any 
revolutionary spirit worth being afraid of. In a rich commercial 
country, the idle, the profligate, and the worthless will always be 
anxious to level the well-earned honors, as well as plunder the 
wealth amassed by the brave, intelligent, and industrious ; but 
every respectable member of society, with the coolness of judgment 
natural to our country, must feel that he possesses a stake, and 
enjoys advantages, which I firmly believe he is highly desirous 
to maintain ; in fact, not only the good feeling, but the good sense 
of the country, support the fabric of our society, which we all 
know, like the army, derives its spirit from possessing various 
honors (never mind whether they be of intrinsic value or not) 
which we are all more or less desirous to obtain. 



144 BUBBLES. 



But if those who wear these honors degrade themselves — if 
our upper classes culpably desert their own standards — if they 
shall continue to insist on giving to their children an elegant, 
useless education, while the tradesman is filling his son with 
steady useful knowledge — if our aristocracy, with the Ghoul's 
horrid taste, will obstinately feed itself on dead languages, while 
the lower classes are greedily digesting fresh wholesome food — 
if writing, arithmetic, modern geography, arts, sciences, and dis- 
coveries of all sorts are to continue (as they hitherto have con- 
tinued) to be most barbarously disregarded at our public schools 
and universities, while they are carefully attended to and studied 
by the poor — the moment must arrive when the dense population 
of our country will declare that they can no longer afford to be 
governed by classical statesmen ; and, with an equally honest 
feeling, they will further declare, they begin to find it difficult to 
look up to the people who have ceased to be morally their supe- 
riors. That the lower orders of people in England are rising 
not only in their own estimation, but in the honest opinion of the 
world, is proved by the singular fact, that the wood-cuts of our 
" Penny Magazine^^ (so rapidly printed by one of Clowes's great 
steam presses) are sent, in stereotype, to Germany, France, and 
Belgium, where they are published, as with us, for the instruc- 
tion of the lower classes. The same Magazine is also sent to 
America (page for page) stereotyped. The common people of 
England are thus proudly disseminating their knowledge over 
the surface of the globe ; while our upper classes, by an in- 
fatuation which, without any exception, is the greatest pheno- 
menon in the civilized world, are still sentencing their children to 
heathen, obscene, and useless instruction ; and, though it has 
beneficently been decreed " Let there be light !" our universi- 
ties seriously maintain that the religious as well as moral wel- 
fare of this noble commercial country depends upon its continuing 
in intellectual darkness. 

It is now much too late in the day to argue whether the educa- 
tion of the lower classes be a political advantage or not. One 
might as well stand on the Manchester Rail-road to stop its train 
as to endeavor to prevent that. The people, whether we like it or 
not, WILL be enlightened ; and therefore, without bewailing the 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS^ BATH. 145 

disorder, our simple and oi-^ly remedy is, by resolutely breaking 
up the system of <3ur public schools and universities, to show the 
people that we have nobly determined to become enlightened too. 
The English gentleman (a name which, in the army, navy, 
hunting-field, or in any other strife or contention, has always 
shown itself able to beat men of low birth) will then hold his 
giound in the estimation of his tenants, and continue to inhabit 
his estate. The English nobleman and the noble Englishman 
will continue to be synonymous — ^a well educated clergy will con- 
tinue to be revered— the throne, as it hitherto hath been, will be 
loyally supported — our mercantile honor will be saved — the hopes 

OF THE RADICAL WILL BE IRRETRIEVABLY RUINED and, whcn 

the misty danger at which we now tremble has brightened into 
intellectual sunshine, remaining, as we must do (so long as we 
continue to be the most industrious), the wealthiest and first com- 
mercial nation on the globe, we shall remember, and history will 
transmit to our children, that old-fashioned prophecy of Falcon- 
bridge, which so truly says, 

*•* Naught shall make us rue, 
If Enorland to itself do rest but true." 



I had retired to rest much pleased with Schlangenbad and all 
that belonged to it, when about midnight I was awakened by a 
general slamming of doors, windows, and shutters, occasioned by 
a most violent gale of wind, and on opening my eyes, the bright 
moonlight scene, which, without even moving my head, I beheld, 
was mysteriously grand and imposing. Although the moon, 
which had just risen, was, as I lay, not discernible through my 
windows, yet its silvery light beamed so strongly that the two lit- 
tle whitewashed mill-cottages in the valley seemed to be even bright- 
er than I had observed them during the day. But what particu- 
larly attracted my attention was the apparent writhing of those 
great hills which, as if they had only just been rent asunder, 
hemmed me in. Every tree on them was bending and waving 
from the violence of the squall, and as cloud after cloud rapidly 
hurried across the moon, sometimes obscuring and then suddenly 
restoring to my view the strange prospect, the uncertainty of this 
11 



146 BUBBLES, 



undulating movement gave a supernatiiral appearance to the scene^ 
which more resembled the fiction of a dream, or of a romance, 
than any possible efTect of wind on trees. The clean, glistening 
foliage seemed scarcely able to stand against, the gale, which still 
continued to increase, until a loud peal of thunder, followed by a 
few heavy drops, announced a calm, which Avas no sooner estab- 
lished than the light of the moon appeared to be converted by na- 
ture into a heavy deluge of rain. For some few moments I listened, 
I believe, to the refreshing sound, and to the rushing of the stream 
beneath me, but as the darkness around me increased, my eyes 
closed, and I again dropped off to sleep. 

The little society of Sehlangenbad, like that of most of the 
towns and villages in this part of Germany, is composed of Luthe- 
rans, Catholics, and Jews. The former sects have each a place 
of worship allotted to them in the Old Bad-Haus or Nassauer-Hof, 
and their two chambers, standing nearly opposite to each other, 
remind me very strongly of those twin- roads which in England 
often lead from one little country town to another. 

On each is the stranger invited to travel — one boasts that it is 
the nearest by half a quarter of a mile, the other brags that " it 
avoids the hill." Such is the distinction between the two Chris- 
tian sects at Sehlangenbad ; — both start from the same point — both 
strain for the same goal, and yet they querulously refuse to travel 
together ! 

After having spent two or three days in rambling up and down 
the valley, searching for and admiring its sequestered beauties, 
like Rasselas, I felt anxious to scale the mountains which surround- 
ed me, and accordingly inquired for a path, which, I was told, would 
extricate me from my happy valley ; however, after I had con- 
tinued on it some way, fancying I could attain the summit by a 
shorter cut, I attempted to ascend the mountain by a straight 
course. For some time I appeared to succeed pretty well, feeling 
every moment encouraged at observing how high I had risen above 
the grassy valley beneath ; however, the mountain grew steeper 
and the trees thicker and larger, until I began to find that I had a 
much heavier job on my hands than I had bargained for : never- 
theless, upward I proceeded, winding my way through some mag- 
nificent oak timber, until at last I attained actually the top of the 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 147 

mountain : yet so surrounded was I by trees, that, very much to 
my disappointment, I found it impossible to see ten yards before 
me. For a considerable distance I walked along the ridge, hop- 
ing to fmd some gap or open spot which w^ould enable me to get a 
glimpse of the country beneath me, but in vain ; for, go where I 
would, I was like a reptile crawling through a field of standing 
corn ; in short, nothing could I see but trees, and even they ap- 
peared to be of no value, as a great number of stately oaks were 
in every direction rotting just as if they were beyond the reach 
and ken of mankind. As I was winding between these timber 
trees, hoping, at least, to see deer or wild game of some sort, it 
began to rain, and though I had no disposition on that account to 
abandon my object, yet absolutely not knowing where to seek it, 
I was almost in despair, when it suddenly occurred to me to climb 
one of the trees ; and the idea had no sooner entered my head, 
than I felt quite angry with myself for not having thought of it 
before : however, I was some little time before I could find one to 
suit, for to swarm up the large body of one of the great oaks 
would have been quite impossible. As soon as I found a tree 
adapted to my purpose and my powers, I climbed it in spite of the 
rain, and I was no sooner in the position of King Charles the 
Second, than I witnessed one of the most splendid views that can 
be well conceived. 

Beneath me was the Rhine, glistening and meandering in its 
course, while nearly opposite and beneath me lay Bingen, which 
appeared to be basking on the banks of a lake. Almost every 
one who has travelled on the Rhine speaks in raptures of this part 
of it, yet the view I enjoyed, seated on the limb of my tree, was 
altogether superior to what they could have witnessed, because at 
one view I beheld the beauties that they had only successively ad- 
mired. The hills on which I was placed were clothed to their 
summits with foliage, feathering down to the very water's edge ; 
and instead of the little portion of the river, which, as one niggles 
along, is seen bit by bit from the steam-boat, its whole course 
seemed to be displaying itself to my view. The opposite shore 
was comparatively flat, and as far as I could see, a boundless 
fertile wine country appeared to extend there. The shower 
which was still falling in heavy drops upon my tree, only belong 



148 BUBBLES. 



ed to the mountain on which it stood, for the whole country and 
river beneath were basking in sunshine. It was really delightful 
to enjoy at once the sight of so many beautiful objects, and I 
hardly knew whether to admire most the lovely little islands 
which seemed floating at anchor in the Rhine, or the vast expanse 
of continent which was prostrate before me ; but without continu- 
ing the description, any one who will only look on his map for Bin- 
gen, and then imagine an old man seated in the clouds above it, 
will perceive what a salient angle I occupied, and what a magni- 
ficent prospect I enjoyed. 

As soon as I had imbibed a sufficient dose of it, I commenced 
my descent, which was of course easy enough when compared 
with the fatigue I had suffered in attaining the object. The trees 
were dripping, and the mossy surface of the ground made my 
feet equally wet ; however, rapidly descending, T soon got first a 
glimpse of my own window in the New Bad-Haus, then a peep 
at the little quiet mills whose wheels I saw slowly turning under 
the clear bright water that sparkled above them ; and really when 
I at last got down to the green secluded valley of Schlangenbad, 
I felt that I would not exchange its peaceful tranquillity for the 
possession of all the splendid objects I had just witnessed. 

Yet in viewing this humble scene, as well as in revelling over 
that magnificent prospect where space and wood seemed to be in- 
finite, the very air smelling of health and freedom, there was a 
small feature in the picture which often gave me very painful re- 
flections. There are, perhaps, many who will say, that two or 
three peasants' roofs are specks, which (whatever sad secrets may 
lie hidden beneath them) ought not to disturb the mind of the 
spectator, being objects much too insignificant to be worthy of his 
notice ; yet the more I admired the splendor of the mountain 
scenery, — the more the verdant valley seemed to rejoice, — the 
more the wild deer, dashing by me, appeared to enjoy the rich 
gifts of creation, — the more difficult did I find it to forget the ab- 
ject poverty of the two or three poor families which were inhabit- 
ing this smiling valley ; and (on the principleof not muzzling the 
ox that treadeth out the corn) it certainly did seem to me hard, 
that, surrounded as these poor people are by an almost boundless 
forest of timber trees, quantities of ^vhich, stag-headed, are actu- 



SCHLANGENBAD ; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 149 

ally returning to the dust from which they sprung, they should, 
by the laws of their country, be rigidly forbidden to collect fuel 
to cheer the inclemency of the winter, or even with their fingers 
to tear up a little wild grass beneath the trees for their cow. 

Considering that the storm, like the wind, cometh where it list- 
eth, afflicting the poor man even more than the well-sheltered 
rich one, it seems hard, in districts so nearly uninhabited, that 
when the oak tree is levelled with the ground, the mountain pea- 
sant who has weathered the gale should be prevented from plun- 
dering this wreck of the desolate forest in which he has been born. 
Nevertheless, that such is the case, will be but too evident from 
the following short extracts from a very long list of forest penal- 
ties, rigidly enforced by the Duke of Nassau : — 

FOREST PENALTIES. 

Fine. 

T^ 1 J r J ^ a child , 34 kreuzers.* 

For a load of sear wood < r^T ^"^^*''' 

X ui a iuau ux ocai vvv^uci ^ groWIl-Up perSOH ', 54 do. 

If it be green wood, the fine is doubled. 

T-, 1 J \c J J 1 (a child 26 to 28 kreuzers. 

For a load of dead leaves ^ g,„,^„.„p p,,,^^ 46 t„ 48 

For a load of green grass ( a child 30 do. 

torn up by the hand. ( grown-up person 50 do. 

Should a sickle or scythe be used, the fine then becomes doubled ; like- 
wise for a second trespass ; for a third, imprisonment ensues. 

It is against the Duke's law to take birds' nests ; even those of birds of 
prey cannot be taken without the permission of the keeper of the forests. 

For a nest taken of common singing birds, 5 florins. 

For nightingales 15 do. 

Should the nest be taken out of a pleasure ground, the fine then becomes 
doubled. 

It may appear to many people quite impossible that these pen- 
alties can be enforced in desolate districts so nearly uninhabited : 
nevertheless, by a sort of diamond-cut-diamond system, the Duke's 
forest officers have various cunning ways of detecting those who 
infringe them ; and the fact is, that fuel and wild grass are very 
often wanting in a solitary hovel absolutely environed by both. I 
myself was one day told that I had become liable to be fined 

* Three kreuzers make one penny English ; sixty kreuzers (or Is, 8d.) 
make one florin. 



150 BUBBLES. 



eighteen kreuzers, because in a reverie I had allowed a rough 
pony I was riding to bend his head down and eat a few mouthfuls 
of grass ; and another day, seeing a man who was driving the 
ass I was riding rub with mud the end of a switch he had just cut, 
I w^as told by him, in answer to my inquiry, that he did so that it 
might not be proved he had cut it. However, lest these trifling 
data should not be deemed sufficient proof, I will at once add, 
that I have myself seen the peasants lying in the Duke's prison 
for having offended against these petty laws. 

I took some pains to inquire what possible objection there could 
be to the poor people collecting a few dead leaves, or the rank 
wild grass which grows here and there all over the forest, and I 
was told that both of these by rotting are supposed to manure 
the trees, yet, as I have already stated, quantities of the largest 
timber are to be seen decaying in every direction. 

In a crowded, populous country, all descriptions of property 
must be clearly distinguished and most sternly protected, but in a 
state of nature, or in districts so nearly approaching to it as many 
part of Nassau, the same rule is not applicable — the same neces- 
sity does not exist ; and under such circumstances the punishment 
inflicted upon a child for tearing up for his mother's cow wild 
grass with his hands most certainly is (and who can deny it ?) 
greater than the oflence. 

It is with no hostile or bad feeling towards the Duke of Nassau 
that I mention these details : he is a personage much beloved in 
his duchy, and I believe with great reason is he respected there, yet 
his forest laws no one surely can admire ; and though custom 
certainly has sanctioned them — though the humbler voice of those 
who have suffered under them has hitherto been too feeble to reach 
his ears, — and though those about his court and person are but 
little disposed to awaken his attention to such mean complaints, 
— yet no one can calmly see and foresee the state of political feel- 
ing in Germany without admitting that the most humble traveller 
(and why not an English one ?) may render the Duke of Nassau 
a friendly service, by bringing into daylight, unveiled by flattery, 
an act of oppression in his government, which, while it has most 
probably escaped his attention, is seditiously hoarded up by his 
political enemies to form part of that fulcrum which they are 



SCHLANGENBAD; OR, THE SERPENTS' BATH. 151 

secretly working at, in order to effect by it, if possible, his down- 
fall. A grievance, like a wound, often only requires to be laid 
open to be cured ; whereas if, deeply seated, it be concealed from 
view, like gunpowder imbedded in a rock, when once the spark 
doss reach it, it explodes with a violence proportionate to the 
power which would vainly have attempted to smother it in .he 
eartk. 



152 BUBBLES. 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 



Having in various countries drunk so much and heard so much 
of the celebrated refi'e&hing Selters or Selzer water, I determined 
one lovely morning to exchange the pleasure of rambling about 
the woods of Schlangenbad for the self-imposed duty of visiting the 
brunnen of Nieder-Selters : accordingly, I managed to procure a 
carriage, and with three post-horses away I trotted, sitting as up- 
right and as full of exuberant enjoyment a& our great departed 
lexicographer in his hack chaise. The macadamized road on 
which I travelled, with the sight of men and boys sitting by its 
side, spitefully cracking with slight hammers little stones upon 
flat big ones, might easily have reminded me of old England ; 
but five women, each carrying on her head sixteen large stone 
bottles of Schlangenbad water to wash the feces of the ladies of 
Schwalbach — the dress of three peasants with long pipes in their 
mouths — a little cart drawn by two cows — the Prince of Saxe 
Coburg in a I'ough carriage pulled by horses without blinkers and 
in rope harness — an immense mastiff, driving before him to be 
slaughtered a calf not a week old, and scarcely as high as him- 
self — all these trifling incidents, combined with the magnificent 
outline of wooded hills which towered above the road, constantly 
reminded me that I was still under the political roof, and in the 
dominions of ^' The Duke/^ 

On arriving at Schwalbach, I learned that the remainder of 
the journey, which was to occupy six hours, was to be performed 
on roads which, in the English language, are termed so very 
properly " cross." Accordingly, passing under the great barren 
hill appropriated to the Schwein-General of Langen-Schwalbach^ 
we followed for some time the course of a green grassy valley. 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 153 



the herbage of which had just been cut for the second time ; and 
then getting into a country nauch afflicted with hills, the horses 
were either straining to ascend them, or suffering equally severely 
in the descent. In many places the road was hardly as broad as 
the carriage, and as there was generally a precipice on one side, 
I might occasionally have felt a little nervous had it not been for 
sundry jolts happily just violent enough to prevent the mind think- 
ing of anything else. 

Passing the Misenhammer, a water-mill lifting an immense 
hammer, which forges iron by its fall (a lion v/hich the water- 
drinkers of Schwalbach generally visit), I proceeded through the 
village of Neuhof to Wurges, where we changed horses, and, what 
was still more important, bartered an old postilion for a young one. 
For a considerable time our road ascended, passing through woods 
and park-like plantations belonging to the Duke of Nassau's hunt- 
ing seat '- Die Platte ;" at last we broke away from these coverts 
which had environed us, traversing a vast, undulating, unen- 
closed country, furrowed by ravines and deep valleys, many of 
which we descended and ascended. The principal crops were 
potatoes, barley, oats, rye, and v/heat, — the three former being 
perfectly green, the two latter completely ripe ; and as it hap- 
pened, from some reason or other, that these sets of crops were 
generally sown on the same sort of land, it constantly occurred 
that the entire produce of some hill wore the green dress of 
spring, while other eminences were as wholly clothed in the rich 
dusky garments of autumn. The harvest, hov/ever, not having 
commiCnced, and the villages being, generally speaking, hidden 
in the ravines, the crops often seemed to be without owners. 
Descending, however, into valleys, we occasionally passed through 
several very large villages, which were generally paved, or rather 
studded with paving stones ; and as the carriage-wheels hopped 
from one to another, the sensation (being still too fresh in my 
memory) I had rather decline to describe : suffice to say, that 
the painful excitation vividly expressed in my countenance must 
have formed an odd contrast with the dull, heavy, half-asleep 
faces, which, as if raised from the grave by the rattling of my 
springs as well as joints, just showed themselves at the windows, 
as if to scare me as I passed. From poverty, their thin mountain 



154 BUBBLES. 



air and meagre food, the inhabitants of all these villages looked 
dreadfully wan, and really there was a want of animation among 
the young people, as well as the old, which it was quite distress- 
ing to witness ; the streets seemed nearly deserted, while the mud 
houses, with their unpainted windows, appeared to be as dry and 
cheerless as their inmates : here and there were to be seen child- 
ren, with hair resembling in color and disorder a bunch of flax — 
but no youthful mierriment, no playfulness — in short, they were 
evidently sapless chips of the old wooden blocks, which were still 
gaping at me from the window- frames. 

At one of these solemn villages the postilion stopped at a 
'• gast-haus " to bait his horses. Odd as it may sound, it is never- 
theless true, that German post-horses have seldom what we should 
term bridles. Snaffle-bits, ending with T's instead of rings, being 
put into their mouths, are hooked (by these T's) to iron billets in 
the head-pieces of common stable-halters, by which arrangement, 
to feed the animals, it is only necessary, without taking them 
from the carriage, to unhook one end of the bits, which immedi- 
ately fall from their mouths ; a slight trough, on four legs, is then 
placed before them, and the traveller generally continues, as I 
did, to sit in his carriage watching the horses voraciously eating 
up slices of black rye bread. 

In England, there is no surer recipe known for making a pair 
of horses suddenly run away with one's carriage, than by taking 
off their blinkers to allow them to see it ; but though our method 
decidedly suits us the best, yet in Germany the whole system of 
managing horses from beginning to end is completely different from 
ours. Whether there is most of the horse in a German, or of the 
German in a horse, is a nice point on which people might argue a 
great deal ; but the broad fact really is, that Germans live on 
more amicable terms with their horses, and understand their dis- 
positions infinitely better than the English : in short, they treat 
them as horses, while we act towards them, and drill them, as if 
they were men ; and in case any one should doubt that Germans 
are better horse-masters than we are, I beg to remind them of 
what is perfectly well-known to the British army — namely, that in 
the Peninsular war the cavalry horses of the German legion 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 155 



were absolutely fat, while those of our regiments were skin and 
bone. 

In a former chapter I have already endeavored to explain, that 
instead of reining a horse's head up, as we do, for draught, the 
Germans encourage the animal to keep it down ; but besides this, 
in all their other arrangements they invariably attend to the tem- 
per, character, and instinct of the beast. For instance, in harness 
they intrust these sensible animals (who are never known to forget 
what they have once seen) with the free use of their eyes. Their 
horses see the wheel strike a stone, and th-ey avoid the next one ; 
if they drag the carriage against a post, they again observe the 
effect ; and seeing at all times what is behind them, they know 
that by kicking they would hurt themselves ; wben passengers 
and postilion dismount, from attentive observation they are as 
sensible as we are that the draught will suddenly become less, and 
conseqiently, rejoicing at being thus left to themselves, instead of 
wishing to run away, they invariably are rather disposed to stand 
«till. 

As soon as, getting tired, or, as we are often too apt to term it, 
^^ lazy," they see the postilion threaten them with his whip, they 
know perfectly well the limits of his patience, and that after 
eight, ten, or twelve threats, there will come a blow : as they 
travel along, one eye is always shrewdly watohing the driver — 
the moment he begins the beavy operation of lighting his pipe, 
they immediately slacken their pace, knowing, as well as Archi- 
medes could have proved, that he cannot strike fire and them at 
the same time *: every movement in the carriage they remark ; 
:and to any accurate observer wbo meets a German vehicle, it 
must often be perfectly evident that the poor horses know and 
feel, even better than himself, that they are drawing a coachman, 
and three heavy baronesses with their maid, and that to do that on 
a hot summer's day is — no joke. When their driver urges them 
to proceed, he does it by degrees ; and they are stopped, not as 
bipeds, but in the manner quadrupeds would stop themselves. 

Now, though we all like our own way best, let us for a mo- 
•fpent (merely while tlie horses are feeding) <jontrast with the 
above description our English mode of treating a horse. 

In order to break in the animal to draught, we put a collar 



155 BUBBLES. 



round his neck, a crupper under his tail, a pad on his back, a strap 
round his belly, with traces at his sides, and lest he should see 
that, though these things tickle and pinch, they have not power ta 
do more, the poor intelligent creature is blinded with blinkers :; 
and in this fearful state of ignorance, with a groom or two at hi& 
head, and another at his side, he is, without his knowledge, fixed 
to the pole and splinter-bar of a carriage. If he kicks, even at 
a fly, he suddenly receives a heavy punishment, which he does 
not comprehend — something has struck him, and has hurt him 
severely ; but, as fear magnifies all danger, so, for aught we 
know or care, he may fancy that the splinter-bar, which has cut 
him^ is some hostile animal, and expect, when the pole bumps- 
against his legs, to be again assailed in that direction. 

Admitting that in time he gets accustomed to these phenomena, 
becoming what we term steady in harness, still, to the last hour 
of his existence, he does not clearly understand what it is that is 
hampering him, or what is that rattling noise which is always at 
his heels : the sudden sting of the whip is a pain with which he 
gets but too well acquainted, yet the " unde derivatur " of the 
sensation he cannot explain — he neither knows when it is coming, 
nor where it comes from. If any trifling accident, or even irre- 
gularity occurs — if any little harmless strap, which ought to rest 
upon his back, happens to fall to his side — the poor, noble, intelli- 
gent animal, deprived of his eye-sight, the natural lanterns of the 
mind, is instantly alarmed ; and though, from constant heavy 
draught, he may literally, without metaphor, be on his last legs, 
yet if his blinkers should happen to fall off, the sight of his own 
master — of his very own pimple-faced mistress — and of his own 
fine yellow carriage in motion — would scare him so dreadfully, 
that off he would probably start, and the more they all pursued 
him the faster would he fly ! 

I am aware that many of my readers, especially those of the 
fairer sex, will feel disposed to exclaim, " Why admire German 
horses ? Can there be any in creation better fed ar warmer 
clothed than our own ? In black and silver harness are they not 
ornamented nearly as highly as ourselves ? Is there any amuse- 
ment in town which they do not attend ? Do we not take them to* 
the Italian Opera, to balls, plays, to hear Paganini, &c. ; and 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 157 



don't they often go to two or three routs of a night ? Are our 
horses ever seen standing before vulgar shops ? And do they not 
drive to church every Sunday as regularly as ourselves V 

Most humbly do I admit the force of these observations ; all I 
persist in asserting is, that horses are foolishly fond of their eye- 
sight — like to wear their heads awkwardly, as Nature has placed 
them ; and that they have had taste enough to prefer dull Ger- 
man grooms and coachmen to our sharp English ones. 

As soon as my horses had finished their black bread, all my idle 
speculations concerning them vanished ; the snaffle-bits were put 
into their mouths — ^the trough removed — and on we proceeded to a 
village, where we again changed. 

The features of the country now began to grow larger than 
ever ; and though crops, green and brown, were, as far as the eye 
could reach, gently waving around me, yet the want of habitations, 
plantations, and fences, gave to the extensive prospect an air of 
desolation : the picture was, perhaps, grand, but it wanted fore- 
ground : however, this deficiency was soon most delightfully sup- 
plied by the identical object I was in search of — namely, the 
brunnen and establishment of Nieder-Selters, which suddenly ap- 
peared on the road-side close before me, scarcely a quarter of a 
mile from its village. 

The moment I entered the great gate of the enclosure which, 
surrounded by a high stone wall, occupies about eight acres of 
ground, so strange a scene presented itself suddenly to my view, 
that my first impression was, I had discovered a new world inha- 
bited by brown stone bottles ! for in all directions were they to be 
seen rapidly moving from one part of the establishment to another, 
standing actually in armies on the ground, or piled in immense 
layers or strata one above another. Such a profusion and such a 
confusion of bottles it had never entered human imagination to 
conceive ; and before I could bring my eyes to stoop to detail, 
with uplifted hands I stood for several seconds in utter amaze- 
ment. 

On approaching a large circular shed, covered with a slated 
roof, supported by posts, but open on all sides, I found the single 
brunnen or well from which this highly-celebrated water is for- 
warded to almost every quarter of the globe — to India, the West 



158 BUBBLES. 



Indies, the Mediterranean, Paris, London, and to almost every 
city in Germany. The hole, which was about five feet square, 
was bounded by a frame- work of four strong beams mortised 
together ; and the bottom of the shed being boarded, it ver}^ much 
resembled, both in shape and dimensions, one of the hatches in 
the deck of a ship. A small crane with three arms, to each of 
which there was suspended a square iron crate or basket, a little 
smaller than the brunnen, stood about ten feet off: and while 
peasant girls, with a stone bottle (holding three pints) dangling on 
every finger of each hand, were rapidly filling two of these crates, 
which contained seventy bottles, a man turned the third by a 
winch, until it hung immediately over the brunnen, into which it 
then rapidly descended. The air in these seventy bottles being 
immediately displaced by the water, a great bubbling of course 
ensued ; but in about twenty seconds, this having subsided, the 
crate was raised ; and, while seventy more bottles descended 
from another arm of the crane, a fresh set of girls curiously car- 
ried off these full bottles, one on each finger of each hand, rang- 
ing them in several long rows upon a large table or dresser, also 
beneath the shed. No sooner were they there, than two men, 
with surprising activity, put a cork into each ; while two drum- 
mers, with a long stick in each of their hands hammering them 
down, appeared as if they were playing upon musical glasses. 

Another set of young women now instantly carried them off, 
four and five in each hand, to men who, with sharp knives, sliced 
off the projecting part of the cork ; and this operation being over, 
the poor jaded bottles were delivered over to women, each of 
whom actually covered 3000 of them a-day with white leather, 
which they firmly bound with packthread round the corks ; and 
then, without placing the bottles on the ground, they delivered 
them over to a man seated beside them, who, without any apology, 
dipped each of their noses into boiling hot rosin ; and before they 
had recovered from this unexpected operation, the Duke of Nas- 
sau's seal was stamped upon them by another man, when off they 
were hurried, sixteen and twenty at a time, by girls to magazines, 
where they peacefully remained ready for exportation. 

Although this series of operations, when related one after an- 
other, may sound simple enough, yet it must be kept in mind that 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 159 



all were performed at once ; and when it is considered that a 
three-armed crane was drawing up seventy bottles at a time, from 
three o'clock in the morning till seven o'clock at night (meal 
hours excepted), it is evident that, without very excellent arrange- 
ment, some of the squads either would be glutted with more work 
than they could perform, or v/ould stand idle v/ith nothing to do ; 
no one, therefore, dares to hurry or stop ; the machinery, in full 
motion, has the singular appearance which I have endeavored to 
describe ; and certainly the motto of the place might be that of 
old Goethe's ring — 

'* ©l]ne past, o\)nc rast/' 

Having followed a set of bottles from the brunnen to the store, 
where I left them resting from their labors, I strolled to another 
pbirt of the establishment, where were empty bottles calmly wait- 
ing for their turn to be filled. I here counted twenty-five 
bins of bottles, each four yards broad, six yards deep, and 
eight feet high. A number of young girls were carrying 
thirty-four of them at a time on their heads to an imm^ense trough, 
which was kept constantly full by a large fountain pipe of beau- 
tiful clear fresh water. The bottles on arriving here were brim- 
full (as I conceived for the purpose of being washed), and were 
then ranged in ranks, or rather solid columns, of seven hundred 
each, there being ten rows of seventy bottles. 

It being now seven o'clock, a bell rang as a signal for giving 
over work, and the whole process came suddenly to an end : for 
a few seconds, the busy laborers (as in a disturbed ant-heap) wer6 
seen irregularly hurrying in every direction ; but, in a very short 
time, all had vanished. During some minutes I ruminated in 
solitude about the premises, and then set out to take up my abode 
for the night at the village, or rather town, of Nieder-Selters : 
however, I had no sooner, as I vainly thought, bidden adieu to 
bottles, than I saw, like Birnham Wood coming to Dunsinane, 
bottles approaching me in every possible variety of attitude. It 
appears that all the inhabitants of Nieder-Selters are in the habit 
of drinking in their houses this refreshing water ; but, as the 
brunnen is in requisition by the Duke all day long, it is only be- 
fore or after work that the private suppl}' can be obtained : no 



IGO BUBBLES. 



sooner, therefore, does the evening bell ring, than every child in 
the village is driven out of* its house to take empty bottles to the 
briHinen ; and it was this singular-looking legion which was now 
approaching me. The children really looked as if they were 
made of bottles ; some wore a pyramid of them in baskets on 
their heads — some were laden with them hanging over their 
shoulders before and behind — some carried them strapped round 
their middle — all had their hands full ; and the little urchins that 
could scarcely walk were advancing, each hugging in its arms 
one single bottle ! In fact, at Nieder-Selters, " an infant " means 
a being totally unable to carry a bottle ; puberty and manhood 
are proved by bottles ; a strong man brags of the number he can 
carry ; and superannuation means being no longer able in this 
world to bear .... bottles. 

The road to the brunnen is actually strewed with fragments, 
and so are the ditches ; and when the reader is informed that, 
besides all he has so patiently heard, bottles are not only expend- 
ed, filled, and exported, but actually are ?nade at Nieder-Selters, 
he must admit that no writer can possibly do justice to that place 
unless every line of his description contains at least once the 
word .... bottle. The moralists of Nieder-Selters preach on 
bottles. Life, they say, is a sound bottle, and death a cracked one 
— thoughtless men are empty bottles — drunken men are leaky 
ones ; and a man highly educated, fit to appear in any country 
and in any society, is, of course, a bottle corked, rosined, and 
stamped with the seal of the Duke of Nassau. 

As soon as I reached the village inn, I found there all the 
slight accommodation I required : a tolerable dinner soon smoked 
on the table before me ; and, feeling that I had seen quite enough 
for one day of brown stone bottles, I ventured to order (merely 
for a change) a long-necked glass one of a vegetable iiuid supe- 
rior to all the mineral water in the world. 

The following morning, previous to returning to the brunnen, I 
strolled for some time about the village ; and the best analysis I 
can offer of the Selters water is the plain fact, that the inhabitants 
of the village, who have drunk it all their lives, are certainly, by 
many degrees, the healthiest and ruddiest looking peasants I have 
anywhere met with in the dominions of the Duke of Nassau. 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 161 



This day being a festival, on reaching the brunnen at eleven 
o'clock 1 found it entirely deserted — no human being was to bs 
seen ; all had been working from three o'clock in the morning 
till nine, but they v/ere now in church, and were not to return to 
their labor till twelve. I had, therefore, the whole establishment 
to myself ; and going to the famous brunnen, my first object was 
to taste its waters. On drinking it fresh from the source, I ob- 
served that it possessed a strong chalybeate taste, which I had 
never perceived on receiving it from a bottle. The three iron 
crates suspended to the arms of the crane v/ere empty, and there 
v/as nothing at all upon the wooden dressers which, the evening 
before, I had seen so busily crowded and surrounded : in the 
middle of the great square were the stools on which the cork- 
covering women had sat ; while at some distance to the left, were 
the solid columns, or regiments, of uncorked bottles, which I had 
seen filled brimfull with pure crystal water the evening before. 
On approaching this brown-looking army, I was exceedingly 
surprised at observing from a distance that several of the bottles 
were noseless, and I was wondering why such should ever have 
been filled, when, on getting close to these troops, I perceived to 
my utter astonishment, that not only about one-third of them were 
in the same mutilated state, but that their noses were calmly 
lying by their sides supported by the adjoining bottles ! What 
could possibly have been the cause of the fatal disaster which in 
one single night had so dreadfully disfigured them, I was totally 
at a loss to imagine : the devastation which had taken place re- 
sembled the riddling of an infantry regiment under a heavy fire ; 
yet few of our troops, even at Waterloo, lost so great a proportion 
of their men as had' fallen in twelve hours among these immov- 
able phalanxes of bottles. Flad they been corked one might have 
supposed that they had exploded, but why nothing but their noses 
had suffered I really felt quite incompetent to explain. 

As it is always better honestly to confess one's ignorance, 
rather than exist under its torture, with a firm step I walked to 
the door of the governor of the brunnen ; and sending up to him 
a card, bearing the name under which I travelled, he instantly 
appeared, politely assuring me that he should have much plea- 
sure in affording any information I desired. 
12 



162 



BUBBLES. 



Instantly pointing to the noseless soldiers, my instructor was 
good enough to inform me that bottles in vast numbers being 
supplied to the Duke from various manufactories, in order to 
prove them, they are filled brimfull (as I had seen them) with 
water, and being left in the same state for the night, they are the 
next morning visited by an officer of the Duke, whose wand of 
office is a thin, long-handled, little hammer, which at the moment 
happened to be lying before us on the ground. 

It appears that the two prevailing sins to which stone bottles 
are prone, are having cracks, and being porous, in either of which 
cases they, of course, in twelve hours, leak a little. 

The Duke's officer, who is judge and jury in his own court- 
yard, carries his ov/n sentences into execution with a rapidity 
which even our Lord Chancellor himself can only hope eventu- 
ally to imitate. Glancing his hawk-like eye along each line, the 
instant he sees a bottle not brimfull, without listening to long- 
winded arguments, he at once decides " that there can be no 
mistake — that there shall be no mistake ;" and thus at one blow 
or tap of the hammer, off goes the culprit's nose. " So much for 
Buckingham 1" 

Feeling quite relieved by this solution of the mystery, I troubled 
the governor with a few questions, in reply to which he very kindly 
conducted me to his counting-house, where, in the most liberal and 
gentleman-like manner, he gave me all the data I required. 

The following, which I extracted from the day-book, is a state- 
ment shov, ing the number of bottles which were filled for expor- 
tation during the year 1832, with the proportionate number filled 
during each month. 











Large. 


Small. 


January, 1S3'^ 


301 


25 


February 


. 






9,235 


2,100 


March 








. 304,.^29 


95,714 


April 








. 207,887 


49,562 


May 








. IG7,706 


61,589 


June 








. 155,688 


14,063 


July . 








. 76,086 


16,388 


August 








. 58,848 


9,159 


vSeptember 








27,21G 


9,555 


October 








. 23,512 


3,297 


November 








2,523 


25 


December 








151 


44 



1,033,662 261,521 



NIEDER-SELTERS. 163 



Besides the above, there is a private consumption, amounting, 
on an average, to very nearly half a million of bottles per annum. 

It will, I hope, be recollected, that by the time a bottle is sealed, 
it has undergone fifteen operations, all performed by different 
people The Duke, in his payments, does not enter into these 
details, but, delivering his own bottles, he gives 17^ kreuzers 
(nearly sixpence) for every hundred, large or small, which are 
placed, filled, in his magazines. The peasants, therefore, either 
share their labor and profits among themselves, or the v/hole of 
the operations are occasionally performed by the different mem- 
bers of one family ; but so much activity is required in con- 
stantly stopping and carrying off the bottles, that this work is 
principally performed by young v/omen of eighteen or nineteen, 
assembled from all the neighboring villages ; and who, by work- 
ing from three in the morning till seven at night, can gain a florin 
a day, or 30 fiorins a month, Sunday (excepting during prayers) 
not being, I am sorry to say, at Nieder-Selters, a day of rest. 

For the bottles themselves the Duke pays 4^ florins per cent. 
for the large ones, and 3 florins per cent, for the small ones. 
The large bottles, when full, he sells at the brunnen for 13 florins 
a hundred. 

His profit, last year, deducting all expenses, appeared to be, as 
nearly as possible, 50,000 florins ; and yet, this brunnen was 
originally sold to the Duke's ancestor for a single butt of wine ! 

On coming out of the office, the establishment was all alive again, 
and the peasants being in their Sunday clothes, the picture was 
highly colored. Young women in groups of four and five, with 
little v/hite or red caps perched on the tops of their heads, from 
which streamed three or four broad ribands of different colors, 
denoting the villages they proceeded from, in various directions, 
singing as they went, were walking together, heavily laden with 
bottles. They were dressed in blue petticoats, clean white shifts 
tucked above the elbows, with colored stays laced, or rather half 
unlaced, in front. Old women, covering the corks with leather, 
in similar costume, but in colors less gaudy, were displaying an 
activity much more vigorous than their period of life. Across 
this party-colored, well-arranged system, which was as regular 
in its movements as the planets in their orbits, an officer of the 



164 BUBBLES. 



Duke, like a comet, occasionally darted from the office to the 
brunnen, or from the tiers of empty bottles which had not yet 
been proved, to the magazine of full ones ready to embark on 
their travels. 

In quitting the premises, as 1 passed the regiments of bottles, 
an operation ^^•as proceeding which I had not before witnessed. 
Women in wooden shoes were reversing the full bottles ; in fact, 
without driving these brown soldiers from their position, they were 
m.aking them stand upon tlieir heads instead of upon their heels — 
the object of this military somerset being to empty them ; how- 
ever, every noseless bottle, water and all, was hurled over a 
wall, into a bin prepared on purpose to receive them ; and the 
smashing- sound of devastation which proceeded from this odd-look- 
ing operation it would be very difficult to describe. 

Having now witnessed about as much as I desired of the lively 
brunnen of Nieder-Selters, I bade adieu to this well-regulated 
establishment, feeling certain that its portrait would, in future, 
re-appear before my mind, in all its vivid colors, whensoever and 
v/heresoever I might drink the refreshing, wholesome beverage 
obtained from its bright, sparkling source. My carriage had long 
been waiting at the gate ; however, having aroused my lumber- 
ing and slumbering driver, I retraced my steps, was slowly re- 
jolted homeward, and it was late before I reached my peaceful 
abode in the gay, green little valley of Schlangenbad. 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. 165 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. 



Exactly at the appointed moment, Luy with his favorite ass, 
Katherinchen, appeared at the door of the new Bad-Haus ; the day, 
overcast with clouds, was quite cool, and, under such favorable 
auspices, starting at twelve o'clock, in less than a hundred yards 
we were all hidden in the immense forest which encircles that 
portion of the duchy of Nassau which looks down upon the Maine 
and the Rhine. For about an hour, the ass, who after the second 
turn seemed to be perfectly sensible where she was carrying me, 
patiently threaded her way along narrow paths, which, constantly 
crossing each other at various angles, seemed sufficient to puzzle 
even the brain of a philosopher : however, although human intel- 
lect is said to be always on the march, yet we often find brute 
instinct far before it ; and certainly it did appear that Katherin- 
chen's knowledge of the carte du pays of Nassau was equal 
almost to that of " The Duke " himself. Sometimes we suddenly 
came to tracks of wheels which seemed to have been formed by 
carriages that had not only dropped from, but had returned back 
to, the clouds, for they began a propos to nothing, and vanished 
in an equally unaccountable manner. Sometimes we came to 
patches bare of timber, except here and there an old oak left on 
purpose to supply acorns for the swine ; then again we followed 
a path which seemed only to belong to deer, being so narrow that 
we were occasionally obliged to force our way through the 
bushes ; at last, all of a sudden, I unexpectedly found myself on 
the very brink of a most picturesque and precipitous valley. 

Close above me, standing proudly on its rock, and pointing to a 
heavy white cloud which happened at the moment to be passing 



166 BUBBLES. 



over it. was the great pillar or tower of Sharfenstein, a castle for- 
merly the residence of the bishops of Mainz. The village of 
Kiedrich lay crouching at a considerable depth beneath, the pre- 
cipitous bank w hich connected us with it being a vineyard, in 
which every here and there were seen flights of rough stone steps, 
to enable the peasants to climb to their work. By a rocky path, 
about a foot or nine inches broad, Katherinchen, with Luy follow- 
ing as if tied to her tail, diagonally descended through this grape 
garden, until we at last reached the village mill, the wheel of 
which I had long observed indolently turning under a stream of 
w^ater scarcely heavy enough for its purpose. The little village 
of Kiedrich, as I rode by it, appeared to be a confused congrega- 
tion of brovv^n hovels and green gardens, excepting a large slated 
mansion of the Baron von Ritter, whose tower of Sharfenstein 
now seemed in the clouds, as if to draw the lightning from the 
village ; and almost breaking my neck to look up to it, I could 
not help feeling, as I turned towards the east, how proud its laird 
must be at seeing every morning its gigantic shadow lying across 
the valley, then paying its diurnal visit to every habitation, thus 
eclipsing for a few moments, from each vassal, even the sun in 
the heavens. 

After passing Kiedrich, I again entered the forest, and for above 
an hour there was little to be seen except the noble trees w^hich 
encompassed me : but the mind soon gets accustomed to ever so 
short a tether, and though I could seldom see fifty yards, yet 
v/ithin that distance there existed always plenty of minute objects 
to interest me. The foliage of the beeches shone beautifully clear 
and brilliant, and there were new shoots, which, being lighter in 
color than the old, had much the appearance of the autumnal tint, 
yet when the error was discovered, one gladly acknowledged that 
youth had been mistaken for age. The forest now suddenly 
changed from beech trees into an army of oaks which seemed to 
be, generally speaking, about fifty years of age : among them, 
however, there stood here and there o. few weather-beaten veterans, 
who had survived the race of comrades with whom they had once 
flourished ; but we must drop the military m.etaphor, for their 
hearts were gone — their bodies had mouldered away — nothing 
but one side was left — in fact, they were more like sentry-boxes 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. 167 

than sentinels, and yet, in this decayed state, they were decked 
with leaves as cheerfully as the rest. In this verdant picture 
there was one pale object which, for a few moments, as I passed 
it, particularly attracted my attention : it was an immense oak, 
which had been struck dead by lightning ; it had been, and in- 
deed still was, the tallest to be seen in the forest, and pride and 
presumption had apparently drawn it to its fate. Every leaf, 
every twig, every small branch was gone ; — barkless — blasted — 
and blanched, — its limbs seemed stretched into the harshest out- 
lines ; a human corpse could not form a greater contrast with a 
living man, than this tree did with the soft green foliage waving 
around it ; it stood stark — stiff — jagged as the lightning itself; 
and as its forked, sapless branches pointed towards the sky, 
it seemed as if no one could dare pass it without secretly feeling 
that there exists a power which can annihilate as well as create, 
and that v/hat the fool said in his heart — was wrong ! I, however, 
had not much time for this sort of reflection, for whenever Kathe- 
rinchen, coming to two paths, selected the right one, Luy from 
behind was heard loudly applauding her sagacity, which he had 
previously declared to be superior to that of all the asses in Nas- 
sau — and yet Luy, in his more humble department, deserved quite 
as much praise as Katherinchen herself. 

He was a slender, intelligent, active man, of about thirty, 
dressed in a blue smock-frock, girded round the middle by the 
buff Nassau belt ; and though, from some cause or other, which 
he could never satisfactorily account for, his mouth always smelt 
of rum, yet he was never at a loss — always ready for an expedi- 
tion, and foot-sore or not, the day seemed never long enough to 
tire him. The fellow was naturally of an enterprising disposition, 
and the winters in Nassau being long and cheerless, it occurred 
to Luy on his march, that were he with Katherinchen and his 
other two asses to go to England (of which he had only heard that 
it was the richest country under the sun), they would no doubt 
there bo constantly employed for the whole twelvemonth, instead 
of only finding lady and gentlemen riders at Schlangenbad for a 
couple of months in the year. His project seemed to himself a 
most brilliant one, and though I could not enter into it quite as 
warmly as he did (indeed I almost ruined his hopes by merely 



16S BUBBLES. 



hinting that "Jiir sea, which he had never heard of, might possibly 
object to his driving asses from Schlangenbad to London), yet I 
inwardly felt that poor Luy's speculation had quite as sound a 
foundation, displayed quite as much knowledge of the world, and 
liad infuiitely less roguery in it, than the bubble projects of more 
civilized countries, which have too often eventually turned out to 
be nothing more nor less than ass-driving with a vengeance. 

After winding my way through the trees for a considerable 
time, inclining gently to the left, I suddenly saw close before me^ 
at the bottom of a most sequestered valley, the object of my jour- 
ney, — namely, the very ancient monastery of Eberbach. The 
sylvan loveliness, and the peaceful retirement of this spot, I 
strongly feel it is quite impossible to describe. Almost surrounded 
by hills or rather mountains, clothed with forest trees, one does 
not expect to find at the bottom of such a valley an immense soli- 
tary building, which in size and magnificence not only corre- 
sponds with the bold features of the country, but seems worthy of 
a place in any of the largest capitals of Europe. 

The irregular building, with its dome, spires, statues, and high 
slated roofs, looks like the palace of some powerful king; and yet 
the monarch has apparently no subjects but the forest trees, 
which on all sides almost touch the architecture, and even closely 
environ the garden walls. 

A spot better suited to any being or race of beings who wished 
to say to the world, " Fare thee well ; and if for ever, still for ever 
fare thee wellP"^ could scarcely be met with on its vast circum- 
ference \ and certainly, if it were possible for the vegetable crea- 
tion to compensate a man for losing the society of his fellow- 
creatures, the woods of Eberbach would, in a high degree, afford 
him that consolation. — A more lovely and romantic situation for a 
monastery could not have existed ; yet I should have wondered 
how it could possibly have been discovered, had not its history 
most clearly explained that marvel. 

In the year 1131, St. Bernhard, the famous preacher of the 
crusade (whose followers eventually possessed, merely in the 
Rhine-gau, six monastic establishments — namely, Tiefenthal, 
Gottesthal, Eberbach, Eibinger, Nothgottes, and Marienhausen), 
was attacked by a holy itch, or irresistible determination to erect 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH, 169 



a monastery ; but not knowing where to drop the foundation-stone, 
he consulted, it is said, a wild boar, on this important subject. 
The sagacious creature shrewdly listened to the human being who 
addressed it ; and a mysterious meeting being agreed upon, he 
silently grubbed with his snout, in the valley of Eberbach, lines 
marking out the foundation of the building ; and certainly such a 
lovely stye, for men basking in sunshine, to snore away their ex- 
istence, no animal but a pig would ever have thought of! 

St. Bernhard, highly approving of the boar's taste, employed 
the best architects to carry his plan into execution ; and sparing 
no expense, a magnificent cathedral — a large palace with a mo- 
nastery connected together by colonnades, as well as ornamented 
in various places with the image of a pig, its founder — were 
quickly reared upon the spot ; and when all was completed, monks 
were brought to the abode, and the holy hive, for many centuries, 
was heard buzzing in the wild mountains which surrounded it : 
however, in the year 1803, the Duke of Nassau took violent pos- 
session of its honey, and its inmates were thus rudely shaken from 
their cells. Three or four of the monks, of this once wealthy 
establishment, are all that now remain in existence, and their 
abode has ever since been used partly as a government prison, 
and partly as a public asylum for lunatics. 

Before entering the great gate, which was surmounted by colos- 
sal-figures of the Virgin Mary, St. John, and the great S. Bern- 
hard himself, I was advised by my cicerone, Luy, to go to some 
grotto he kept raving about ; and as Katherinchen's nose also seem- 
ed placidly to point the same way, I left the monastery, and through 
a plantation of very fine oaks, which were growing about twenty 
feet asunder, we ascended, by zigzags, a hill surmounted by a 
beautiful plantation of firs ; and the moment I reached the sum- 
mit, there suddenly flashed upon me a view of the Rhine, which, 
without any exception, I should say, is the finest I have witnessed 
in this country. Uninterrupted by anything but its own long, 
narrow islands, I beheld the course of the river, from Johannis- 
burg to Mainz, which two points formed, from the grotto where I 
stood, an angle of about 120 degrees. Between me and the water, 
lay, basking in the sunshine, the Rhein-gau, covered with vine- 
yards, or surrounded by large patches of corn, which were evi- 



170 BUBBLES. 



dently just ready for the sickle ; but the harvest not having ac- 
tually commenced, the only moving objects in the picture were 
young women with white handkerchiefs on their heads, busily 
pruning the vines ; and the Coin, or, as it might more properly 
be termed, the English steam-boat, whichy immediately before me, 
was gliding against the stream towards Mainz. On the opposite 
side of the Rhine, an immense country, highly cultivated, but 
without a fence, was to be seen. 

Turning my back upon this noble prospect, the monastery lay 
immediately beneath me, so completely surrounded by the forest, 
that it looked as if, ready-built, it had been dropped from heaven 
upon its site. 

A more noble-looking residence could hardly be imagined, and 
the zigzag walks and plantations of fir imparted to it a gentleman- 
like appearance, which I could not sufficiently admire ; yet, not- 
withstanding the rural beauty of the place, I felt within me a 
strong emotion of pity for those poor, forlorn, misguided beings, 
whose existence had been uselessly squandered in such mistaken 
seclusion ; and I could not help fancying how acutely, from the 
spot on which I stood, they might have compared the moral lone- 
liness of their mansion with the natural joy and loveliness of that 
river scenery from which their relentless mountain had severed 
them : indeed, I hope my reader will not think an old man too 
Anacreontic for saying, that if anything in this world could pene- 
trate the sackcloth garment of a monk, " and wring his bosom," 
it would be the sight of what I had just turned my back upon — 
namely, a vineyard full of women ! That the fermentation of 
the grape was intended to cheer decrepitude, and that the affec- 
tions of a softer sex were made to brighten the zenith of mid-day 
life, are truths which, within the walls of a convent or a monastery, 
it must have been most exquisite torture to reflect upon. 

As I descended from the grotto, I saw beneath me, entering the 
great gate of the building, half a dozen carts laden with wood, 
each drawn by six prisoners. None being in irons, and the whole 
gang being escorted by a single soldier in the Nassau uniform, [ 
was at first surprised, — why, when they penetrated the forest, 
they did not all run av/ay ! However, fear of punishm.ent held 
them together : there being no large cities in the duchy, they had 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. .71 



nowhere to run, but to their own homes, where they would in* 
stantly have been recaptured ; and though, to a stranger like my- 
self, the forest seemed to offer them protection, yet it was certain 
death by starvation to remain in it. 

On entering the great square, I found it would be necessary to 
apply to the commandant of the establishment for permission to 
view it. I accordingly waited upon him, and w^as agreeably sur- 
prised at being politely informed by him, in English, that he would 
be proud and most happy to attend me. He was a fine, erect, 
soldier-like looking man, of about forty, seventeen years of which 
he had reigned in this valley over prisoners and lunatics ; the 
average number of the former being 250, and of the latter about 
100. 

As I was following him along some very handsome cloisters, I 
observed, hanging against a wall, twenty-five pictures in oil, of 
monks, all dressed in the same austere costume, and in features 
as in dress so much resembling each other, that the only apparent 
distinction between them was the name of each individual, v/hose 
barren, useless existence was thus intended to be comimemorated 
beyond the narrow grave which contained him. Ascending a 
stone staircase, I nov/ came to the lower division of the prison, 
one-half being appropriated to women, and the other to men. 

Although I had been for the whole day enjoying pure fresh air, 
yet the establishment was so exceedingly clean, that there was no 
sm.ell of any sort to ofiend me. The monks' cells had in many 
places been thrown by threes into large rooms for tailors, weavers, 
carpenters, shoemakers, &;c., &c. — each of these trades working 
separately, under the direction of one overseer. In all these 
chambers every window was wide open, the walls were white- 
washed, and the blanched floors were without stain ; indeed, this 
excessive cleanliness, although highly praised by me, and exceed- 
ingly attractive to any English traveller, probably forms no small 
part of the punishment of the prison ; for there is nothing that 
practically teases dirty people more than to inflict upon them 
foreign habits of cleanliness. The women's rooms were similarly 
arranged, and the same cleanliness and industry insisted upon ; 
while, for younger culprits, there was an excellent school, where 
they were daily taught religious singing, reading, writing, arith 



172 BUBBLES. 



metic, and weaving. Having finished with this floor, I mounted 
to the upper story, where, in solitary cells, were confined patients 
who had relapsed, or, in plainer terms, culprits who had been 
convicted a second time of the same offence. 

Many of these unfortunate people were undergoing a sentence 
of three, four, and five years' imprisonment: and to visit them, as 
I did in their cells, was, I can assure my reader, anything but 
pleasing. On the outside of each door hung a small black board, 
upon which was laconically inscribed, in four words, the name 
and surname of the captive — his or her offence — and the sentence. 
I found that their crimes, generally speaking, were what we 
should call petty thefts — such as killing the Duke's game — steal- 
ing his wood — his grass, &c., &c. 

As I paid my melancholy visits, one after another, to these poor 
people, I particularly observed that they seemed, at least, to be 
in the enjoyment (if, without liberty, it may be so termed) of 
good health ; the natural effect of the cool, temperate lives they 
were obliged to lead, and the pure fresh air which came to each 
of them through a small open window ; yet so soon as their doors 
were opened there was an eagerness in their countenances, and 
a peculiar anxiety in their manner of fixing their eyes upon 
mine, which seemed to curdle into despondency, as the door was 
rapidly closed between us. Each individual had some work to 
perform — one man had just finished a cofRn for a poor maniac 
who had lately ended his melancholy career — the lid, instead of 
being flat, was a four-sided prism, and t)n the upper slab, there 
was painted in black a cross very nearly the length of the coffin. 

So long as the soldier, in his buflf belt, who attended the com- 
mandant, continued to unlock for me and lock the dungeons of 
the male prisoners, so long did I feel myself capable of witnessing 
their contents ; for to see men suffer, is what we are all more or 
less accustomed to ; but as soon as he came to the women's cells, 
I felt, certainly for the first time in my existence, that I should 
be obliged to abandon my colors, and cease to be of the scene be- 
fore me — a " reviewer." 

In the countenance of the very first female captive that I be- 
held, I could not but remark a want of firmness, for the possession 
of which I had not given to the other sex sufl^icient credit — the 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. 173 

poor woman (to be sure she might have been a mother) showed 
an anxiety for her release which was ahiiost hysterical ; and 
hurrying towards me, she got so close to the door, that it was ab- 
solutely forcibly slammed by the soldier, almost in her face. 

In the third cell that I came to, there stood up before me- with 
a distaff in her hand, a young, slight-made peasant girl of about 
eighteen ; her hair was black, and her countenance seemed to be 
beaming with innocence and excessive health. She was the only 
prisoner who did not immediately fix her eyes upon mine ; but, 
neither advancing nor retiring, she stood, looking downwards, 
with an expression of grief, which I expected every moment, 
somewhere or other, would burst into tears. Such a living pic- 
ture of youthful unhappiness I felt myself incapable of gazing 
upon ; and the door, being closed upon her, was no sooner locked, 
.than I thanked the commandant for his civility, adding, that I 
would not trouble the soldier to open any more of the cells, ob- 
serving, as an excuse, that I perceived they wer-e all alike. 

After standing some time and listening to the rules and disci- 
pline of the prison, I inquired of the commandant whether he had 
any prisoners confined for any greater crimes than those which I 
have already mentioned, to which he replied in the negative ; and 
he was going to descend the staircase, when I asked him, as coldly 
as I could, to be so good as to state for what offence the young 
person I had just left was suffering so severely. The comman- 
dant, with silent dignity, instantly referred me to the little black 
board, on which was written the girl's name (I need not repeat 
it) and her crime, which, to my very great astonishment, turned 
out to be "dissolute ;" and it was because she had been con- 
victed a second time of this offence, that she was imprisoned, as 
I saw her, in a cell, which, like the others, had only one small 
window in the roof, from which nothing was to be seen but what 
she, perhaps, least dared to look at — the heavens ! I certainly, 
from her appearance, did not judge rightly of her character : 
however, upon such points I neither outwardly profess, nor in- 
wardly do I believe myself, to be what is vulgarly termed — 
knowing. Had I looked into the poor girl's countenance for 
guilt, it is most probable I should not have searched there in vain, 
but at her youthful age, one sought for feelings of a better cast ; 



174 BUBBLES. 



and, notwithstanding what was written on the black board, those 
feelings most certainly did exist, as I have very faintly described 
them. 

I now accompanied the commandant (going along, I may just 
observe that he had learned English from his father, who had 
served as an officer in our German Legion) to another part of the 
monastery, which had long been fitted up as an asylum for luna- 
tics, most of whom were provided for by the Nassau government, 
the rest being people of family, supplied with every requisite by 
their friends. 

There was but little here which particularly attracted my 
attention. In clean, airy rooms, formed out of three cells, as in 
the prison, there lived together from eight to ten lunatics, many 
of whom appeared to be harmless and even happy, although, in 
the corner of the room, there certainly was a large iron cage for 
refractory or dangerous patients. In one of these groups stood a 
madman, who had been a medical student. He was about 
thirty years of age, extremely dark, exceedingly powerfully made, 
— and no sooner did I enter the room, than raising his eyes from 
a book which he was reading, he fixed them (folding his arms at 
the time) upon me, with a ferocity of countenance, which formed 
a very striking contrast to the expression of imbecility which 
characterized the rest of his companions. The longer he looked 
at me, the deeper and the darker was his frown ; and though I 
steadily returned it, yet, from the flashing of his eyes, I really 
believed that, like a wild beast, he would have sprung upon me, 
had I not followed the soldier to the next room. 

Having inspected the great apartments, I next visited the cells in 
which were confined those who were not fitted for intercourse with 
others ; they were generally of a gloomy temperament. Some 
Were lying on their beds, apparently asleep ; while some, particu- 
larly women, actually tried to escape, but were mildly repressed 
by the commandant, whose manner towards them seemed to be an 
admirable mixture, in about equal parts, of mildness and immova- 
ble firmness, 

I should have continued along the passage which connected 
these cells, but the poor creature, whose coffin I had seen, was 
lying there ; I therefore lefl the building, and went into a great 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. 175 

garden of the monastery, filled with standard fruit-trees, which 
had been planted there by tlie monks. In this secluded spot there 
was a sort of summer-house, where the worst lunatic cases were 
in confinement ; none, however, were in chains ; though some 
were so violent, that the commandant made a sign to the soldier 
not to disturb them. 

Having now very gratefully taken leave of the deserving officer 
in charge of this singular establishment for crime and lunacy, the 
whole of which was admirably kept in complete subjection by a 
garrison of eight soldiers, for a considerable time I strolled alone 
about the premises. Sometimes I looked at ancient figures of a 
boar, which I found in more than one place, rudely carved both 
on wood and stone ; then I wandered into the old cathedral, v/hich 
%vas now strangely altered from the days of its splendor, for the 
glass in its Gothic windows having been broken, had been plastered 
up with mud^ while upon the tombs of bishops and of abbots there 
were lying corn in sheaves, — -heaps of chaff, — -bundles of green 
grass. 

¥xy attention was liow very particularly attracted by the vene- 
rable entrance-gate of the monastery, which, on turning a corner, 
suddenly appeared before me, surmounted by colossal statues of 
the Great St. Bernhard with his crosier — of St. John, holding a 
long thin cross, at the foot of which there was seated a lamb — and 
the Virgin Mary, who, with a glory round her head, and an olive 
branch in her hand, stood in the centre, considerably exalted above 
both. 

The sun had long ago set — and I was no sooner immediately 
under the great arched gateway, than, leaning on my staff, I 
stood as it were riveted to the ground at the sight of the moon, 
which, having risen above the great hill, was shining directly 
upon the picturesque pile and images above my head. 

As in silence and solitude I gazed upon the lovely planet, which 
majestically rose before me^ growing brighter and brighter as the 
daylight decayed, I could not help feeling what strange changes 
she had witnessed in the little valley of Eberbach ! Before the 
recorded meeting of the " sus atque sacerdos," she had seen it for 
ages and ages existing alone in peaceful retirement — one genera- 
lion of oaks and beech-trees liad been succeeded by another, while 



176 BUBBLES. 



no human being had felt disposed either to flourish or to decay 
among this vegetable community. After this solemn interview 
with the pig, she had seen the great St, Bernhard collecting work- 
men and materials, and as in the midst of them he stood waving 
his cross, she had observed a monastery rise as if by magic from 
the earth, rapidly over-topping the highest of the trees which sur- 
rounded it. In the days of its splendor she had witnessed provi- 
sions and revenues of all sorts entering its lofty walls, but though 
processions glittered in its interior, nothing was known by her to 
have been exported save a matin and vesper moan, which, accom- 
panying the wind as it swept along the valley, was heard gradu- 
ally dying, until, in a few moments, it had either ceased to exists 
or it had lost itself among the calm, gentle rustling of the leaves. 
Lastly, she had seen the monks of St. Bernhard driven from their 
fastness — and from their holy cells, as with full splendor she had 
since periodically gazed in midnight upon the convent, too often 
had she heard — first, the scream of the poor maniac, uttered, as 
her round gentle light shone mildly upon his brain ; and then his 
wild laugh of grief, as, starting from a distempered sleep, he forced 
his burning forehead against the barred window of his cell, as if, 
like Henri Quatrcj. — 

** Pour prendre la lune arec ses dents."^ 

As she proceeded in her silent course, shining successively 
into each window of the monastery, how often did she now see the 
criminal lying on the couch of the bigot — and the prostitute soli- 
tarily immured in the cell af celibacy ! The madman is now 
soundly sleeping where the fanatic had in vain sought for repose 
— and the knave unwillingly suffering for theft where the hypo-^ 
crite had voluntarily confined himself! 

From a crowd of these reflections^ which, like mushrooms, rapidly 
grew up by the light of the moon, I was aroused by Katherinchen 
and her satellite Luy, whose heads (scarcely visible from the 
shadow of the great gateway), pointing homewards, mildly hinted 
that it was time I should return there ; but on my entering the 
convent, rather an odd scene presented itself. The supper of the 
lunatics^ distributed in separate plates, being ready in the great 



THE MONASTERY OF EBERBACH. 177 

kitchen, like a pack of hounds, they were all of a sudden let loose, 
and their appetites sufficiently governing their judgments, each 
was deemed perfectly competent to hunt for his own food, which 
was no sooner obtained, than, like an ant, he busily carried it off 
to his cell. The prisoners were also fed from another kitchen at 
the same hour : and as certain cravings, which with considerable 
dignity I had long repressed, were painfully irritated by the \ery 
savory smells v/hich assailed me, stopping for a moment, I most 
gladly partook of the madman's fare, and then, full of soup and of 
the odd scenes I had witnessed, leisurely seating myself in my 
saddle, guided by Katherinchen, and followed by Luy, we retraced 
our intricate paths through the forest, until, late at night, vv^e 
found ourselves once again in sight of the little lamps which light 
up the garden and bowers of my resting-place, or caravanserai — 
the New Bad-Haus of Schlangenbad. 
13 



178 BUBBLES. 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 



Having occasion to go to Mainz, I sent over-night to apprise the 
ass, Katherinchen, and the groom of her bedchamber, Luy, that 
I should require the one to carry, the other to follow me to that 
place. Accordingly, when seven o'clock, the hour of my depart- 
ure, arrived, on descending the staircase of the great Bad-Haus, 
I found Luy in light marching order, leaning against one of the 
plane trees in the shrubbery, but no quadruped ! In the man's 
dejected countenance it was at once legible that his Katherinchen 
neither was nor would be forthcoming ; and he had begun to 
ejaculate a very long-winded lamentation, in which I heard 
various times repeated something about sacks of flour and Langen- 
Schwalbach : however, Luy's sighs smelt so strongly of rum, 
that not feeling as sentimental on the subject as himself, I at once 
prevailed upon him to hire for me from a peasant a little long- 
tailed pony, which he accordingly very soon brought to the door. 
The wretched creature (which for many years had evidently been 
the property of a poor man) had been employed for several months 
in the driest of all worldly occupations, namely, in carrying hard 
stone bottles to the great brunnen of Nieder-Selters, and had only 
the evening before returned from that uninteresting job. It was 
evident she had had allotted to her much more work than food, 
and as she stood before me with a drooping head, she shut her 
eyes as if she were going to sleep, t at first determined on send- 
ing the poor animal back, but being assured by Luy that, in that 
case, she would have much harder work to perform, I reluctantly 
mounted .her, and at a little jog-trot, which seemed to be her best 
— her worst — in fact, her only pace, we both, in vei y humble 
spirits, placidly proceeded towards Mainz. 



JOURNEY TO MMNZ. 179 

Luy, who, besides what he had swallowed, had naturally a 
great deal of spirit of his own., by no means, however, liked being 
left behind •; and though I had formally bidden him adieu, and 
^vas greatly rejoiced that I had done so, yet, while J was ascend- 
ing the mountain, happening to look behind me, I saw tlie fellow 
following xne at a distance like ^ w<^l£ I, .therefore, immediately 
'pulled up my rein, a hint which the pony most readily understood, 
and as Luy -came up, I told him very positively he must return. 
Seeing tliat he was detected, lie at once gave up the point ; yet the 
faithful vassal, still having a hankering to per form for me some little 
parting service, humbly craved permission to see if the pony's 
•shoes wore, to use the -English expression, ^' all right." The two 
fore ones were declared by him (witli a hiccup) to be exactly as 
they should be ; but no sooaer did he proceed to make his tipsy 
Teflections on the hind ones, than in one second the pony seemed 
^y magic converted into a mad creature! Luy fell, as if struck 
by lightning, to the ground, while the tiny thing, with its head 
^between its legs (for tlie rein had been lying loose on its neck), 
<}ommenced a series of most violent kicks, which I seriously 
thought would never -come to an end. 

As good luck would have it, I laappemed, during the operation, 
to cleave pretty closely to my saddle^ h\j^ what tliunder-clap had 
vso suddenly soured the mild disposition of my palfrey, I was to- 
tally unable to conceive ! It turned out, however, that the poor 
thing's paroxysm had been caused by an unholy alliance that had 
taken place between the root of her tail and the bowl of Luy's 
pipe, which, on his reeling against her, had become finmly en- 
tangled in the hair, and it was because it remained there for about 
•half a minute, burning her very violently, that she had kicked, or, 
as a lawyer would term it, had protested in the violent manner 
land form I have described. 

After I had left Lu}^, it took some time before the poor fright- 
ened creature could forget the strange rnysterious sensation she 
had experienced ; however, her mind, like her tail, gradually be- 
Mcoming easy, lier head drooped, the rein again hung on her neck, 
and in a mile or two we continued to jog on together in as good 
and sober fellowship as if no such eccentric calamity had befallen 



ISO BUBBLES. 



As we were thus ascending tlie mountain by a narrow path, we 
came suddenly to a tree laden with most beautiful black cherries^ 
evidently dead ripe. The poor idiot of Schlangcnbad had escaped 
from the hovel in which he had passed sa many years of his va- 
cant existence, and [ here found him literally gorging himself with 
the fruit. For a moment he stopped short in his meal, wildly rolling 
his eyes, and looking at me, as if his treacherous, faithless brain 
could not clearly tell him whether I was a friend or an enemy ; 
however, his craving stomach being much more violent than any 
reflections the poor creature had power to entertain, he suddenly 
seemed to abandon all thought, and again greedily returned to- 
his work. He was a man of about thirty, with features, sepa- 
rately taken, remarkably handsome ; he had fine hazel eyes, an 
aquiline nose, and a good mouth ; yet there was a horrid twist in 
the arrangement in which not only his features but his w^hole 
frame was put together, which, at a single glance^ painted him out 
to me as one of those poor beings who> here and there, are mys- 
teriously sent to make their appearance on this earth, as if prac- 
tically to explain to mankind, and negatively to prove to them^ 
the inestimable blessing of reason^ which is but too often thank- 
lessly enjoyed. 

The cherries, which were hanging in immense clusters around 
us, were plucked five or six at a time by the poar lame creature 
before me ; but his thumb and two fore-fingers being apparently 
paralyzed, he was obliged to grasp the fruit with his two smallest^ 
and thus, by a very awkward turn of his elbow, he seemed ap- 
parently to be eating the cherries out of the palm of his hand,- 
which was raised completely above his head. 

Not a c-herry did he bite, but with canine voracity, he continued 
to swallow them, stones and all ; however, there was evidently 
a sharp angle or tender corner in his throat, for I particularly 
remarked, that whenever the round fruit passed a certain point, 
it caused the idiot's eyes to roll, and a slight convulsion in his 
frame continued until the cherry had reached the place of its 
destination. 

The enormous quantity of ripe fruit which I saw this poor crea- 
ture swallow in the way I have described quite astonished me } 
however,: it was useless to attempt to offer him a-dvice, so insteari 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 18i 

I gave him what all people like so much better — a little money — 
partly to enable him to buy 'umself richer food, and partly be- 
cause I wished to see whether he had sense enough to attach any 
value to it. 

The silver was no sooner in his hand than, putting it most ra- 
tionally into the loose pocket of his ragged, coarse cloth trowsers, 
he instantly returned to his work with as much avidity as ever. 
Seeing that there was to be no end to his meal, I left him hard at 
it, and continued to ascend the hill, until the path, suddenly turn- 
ing to the right, took me by a level track into the great forest. 

The sun had hitherto been very unpleasantly hot, but I was 
now sheltered from its rays, while the pure mountain air gave to 
the foliage a brightness which, in the Schlangenbad woods, I have 
so often stopped to admire. Although it was midsummer, the old 
brown beech leaves of the last year still covered the surface of 
the ground ; yet they were so perfectly dry, that far from there 
being anything unhealthy or gloomy in their appearance, they 
formed a very beautiful contrast with the bright, clean, polished 
leaves, as well as with the white, shining bark of the beech trees 
out of which they had only a year ago sprung into existence. 
This russet covering of the ground was, generally speaking, in 
shade, but every here and there were bright sparkling patches of 
sunshine, which, having penetrated the foliage, shone like gaudy 
patterns in a dark carpet. 

As the breeze gently stole among the trees, their branches in 
silence bowing as it passed them, these brown leaves, being crisp 
and dry, occasionally moved ; — occasionally they were more vio- 
lently turned over by small fallow deer, which sometimes darted 
suddenly across my path, their skin clean as the foliage on which 
they slept — their eye darker than the night, yet brighter than the 
pure stream from which they drank. 

Enjoying t!ie variety of this placid scene, I took every opportu- 
nity, in search of novelty, to change my track ; still from the po- 
sition of the sun, always knowing whereabouts I was, I contrived 
ultimately to proceed in the direction I desired, and after having 
been for a considerable time completely enveloped in the forest, I 
suddenly burst into hot sunshine close to Georgenborn, a little 
village, hanging most romantically on the mountain's side. 



182 BUBBLES. 



The Rhine, and the immense country beyond it, now flashed 
upon my view, and as I trotted along the unassuming street, it 
was impossible to help admiring the magnificent prospect which 
these humble villagers constantly enjoyed ; however, the mind, 
like the eye, soon becomes careless of the beauties of creation, 
and as my pony jogged onwards in his course, I found that the 
cottagers looked upon us both with much greater interest than 
upon that everlasting traveller the Rhine. Every woman we 
met, with great civility grunted " Guten Morgen !" as we passed 
her, while each mountain peasant seen standing at a door, or even 
at a window, made obeisance to us as we crossed his meridian, all 
people's eyes following us as far as they could reach. 

From Georgenborn, descending a little, we crossed a piece of 
table or level land, on which there stood a rock of a very striking 
appearance. Where it had come from. Heaven (from whence 
apparently it had fallen) probably only knows. As if from the 
force v/ith which it had been dropped upon its site, it had split 
into two pieces, separated by a yawning crevice, yet small trees 
or bushes had grown upon each summit, while the same beech foli> 
age appeared in the forest which surrounded them. 

Passing close beneath this rock, I continued trotting towards the 
east for about a league, when, gradually descending into a milder 
climate, I was hailed by the vineyards which luxuriously sur- 
rounded the sequestered little village of Frauenstein. 

Upon a rock overhanging the hamlet, there stood solemnly be- 
fore me the remains of the old castle of Frauenstein, or Franken- 
stein, supposed to have been built in the thirteenth century. In 
the year 1300 it was sold to the Archbishop Gerhardt, of Mainz, 
but soon afterwards, being ruined by the Emperor x\lbrecht I. in 
a tithe war which he waged against the prelate, it was restored to 
its original possessors. 

But what more than its castle attracted my attention in the 
village of Frauenstein, was an immense plane tree, the limbs of 
which had originally been trained almost horizontally, until, 
unable to support their own weight, they were now maintained by 
a scaffolding of stout props. Under the parental shadow of this 
venerable tree, the children of the village were sitting in every 
EOrt of group and attitude ; one or two of their mothers, in loose, 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 183 

easy dishabille, were spinning, many people were leaning against 
the upright scaffolding, and a couple of asses were enjoying the 
cool shade of the beautiful foliage, while their drivers were getting 
hot and tipsy in a wine-shop, the usual sign of which is in Ger- 
many the branch of a tree fixed to the door-post. 

As I had often heard of the celebrated tree of Frauenstein, be- 
fore which I now stood, I resolved not to quit it until I had inform- 
ed myself of its history, for which I well knew I had only to 
apply to the proper authorities ; for in Germany, in every little 
village, there exists a huge volume either deposited in the church, 
or in charge of an officer called the Schuldheisz, in which the 
history of every castle, town, or object of importance is carefully 
preserved. The young peasant reads it with enthusiastic delight, 
the old man reflects upon it with silent pride, and to any travel- 
ler searching for antiquarian lore, its venerable pages are most 
liberally opened, and the simple information they contain gene- 
rously and gratuitously bestowed. 

On inquiring for the history of this beautiful tree, I was intro- 
duced to a sort of doomsday-book about as large as a church 
Bible ; and when I compared this volume with a little secluded 
spot so totally unknown to the world as the valley or glen of 
Frauenstein, I was surprised to find that the auto-biography of the 
latter could be so bulky, — in short, that it had so much to say of 
itself. But it is the common v/eakness of man, and particularly, 
I acknowledged, of an old man, to fancy that all his thoughts, as 
well as actions, are of vast importance to the world ; why, there- 
fore, should not the humble Frauenstein be pardoned for an 
offence which we are all in the habit of committing ? 

In this ancient volume, the rigmarole history of the tree was 
told with so much eccentric German genius, it displayed such a 
graphic description of highborn sentiments and homely life, and 
altogether it formed so curious a specimen of the contents of these 
strange sentimental village histories, that I procured the following 
literal translation, in which the German idiom is faithfully pre- 
served at the expense of our English phraseology. 



184 BUBBLES. 



LEGEND OF THE GREAT PLANE TREE OF FRAUENSTEIN. 

The old Count Kuno seized with a trembling hand the pilgrim's 
staff — he wished to seek peace for his soul, for long repentance 
consumed his life. Years ago he had banished from his presence 
his blooming son, because he loved a maiden of ignoble race. 
The son, marrying her, secretly withdrew. For some time the 
Count remained in his castle in good spirits — looked cheerfully 
down the valley — heard the stream rush under his windows — 
thought little of perishable life. His tender wife watched over 
him, and her lovely daughter renovated his sinking life ; but he 
who lives in too great security is marked in the end by the hand 
of God, and while it takes from him what is most beloved, it warns 
him that here is not our place of abode. 

The " Haus-frau" (wife) died, and the Count buried the com- 
panion of his days ; his daughter was solicited by the most noble 
of the land, and because he wished to ingraft this last shoot on a 
noble stem, he allowed her to depart, and then solitary and alone 
he remained in his fortress. So stands deserted upon the summit 
of the mountain, with withered top, an oak ! — moss is its last 
ornament — the storm sports with its last few dry leaves. 

A gay circle no longer fills the vaulted chambers of the cas- 
tle — no longer through them does the cheerful goblet's " clang" 
resound. The Count's nightly footsteps echo back to him, and 
by the glimmer of the chandeliers the accoutred images of his 
ancestors appear to writhe and move on the wall as if they wished 
to speak to him. His armor, sullied by the web of the vigilant 
spider, he could not look at without sorrowful emotion. Its gentle 
creaking against the wall made him shudder. 

^' Where art thou," he mournfully exclaimed, " thou who art 
banished ? oh my son, wilt thou think of thy father, as he of thee 
thinks — or .... art thou dead ? and is that thy flitting spirit 
which rustles in my armor, and so feebly moves it ? Did I but 
know where to find thee, willingly to the world's end would I in 
repentant wandering journey — so heavily it oppresses me what I 
have done to thee ! — I can no longer remain — forth will I go to 
the God of Mercy, in order, before the image of Christ in the 
Garden of Olives, to expiate my sins !" 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ, 185 



So spoke the aged man — enveloped his trembling limbs in the 
garb of repentance — took the cockle-hat — and seized with the 
right hand (that formerly was accustomed to the heavy v/ar- 
sword) the light long pilgrim's staff. Quietly he stole out of the 
castle, the steep path descending, while the porter looked after 
him astounded, without demanding '-Whither?" 

For many days the old man's feet bore him wide away ; at last 
he reached a small village, in the middle of which, opposite to a 
ruined castle, there stands a very ancient plane tree. Five arms, 
each resem.bling a stem, bent towards the earth, and almost touched 
it. The old men of former times were sitting underneath it, in 
the still evening, just as the Count went by ; he v/as greeted by 
them, and invited to repose. As he seated himself by their side, 
" You have a beautiful plane tree, neighbors," he said. 

"Yes," replied the oldest of the men, pleased with the praise 
bestowed by the pilgrim on the tree ; " it was nevertheless 

PLANTED IN BLOOD !" 

" How is that ?" said the Count. 

" That will I also relate," said the old man. " Many years 
ago there came a young man here, in knightly garb, who had a 
young woman with him, beautiful and delicate, but, apparently 
from their long journey, w^orn out. Pale were her cheeks, and 
her head, covered with beautiful golden locks, hung upon her 
conductor's shoulder. Timidly he looked round — for, from some 
reason, he appeared to fear all men ; yet, in compassion for his 
feeble companion, he wished to conduct her to some secure hut, 
where her tender feet might repose. There, under that ivy- 
grown tower, stands a lonely house belonging to the old lord of 
the castle ; thither staggered the unhappy man with his dear 
burden, but scarcely had he entered the dwelling, than he was 
seized by the Prince, with whose niece he was clandestinely 
eloping. Then was the noble youth brought bound, and where 
this plane tree now spreads its roots flowed his young blood ! 
The maiden went into a convent ; but before she disappeared, she 
had this plane tree planted on the spot where the blood of her 
lover flowed : since then it is as if a spirit life were in the tree 
that cannot die, and no one likes a little twig to cut off, or pluck 
a cluster of blossoms, because he fears it w^ould bleed." 



186 BUBBLES. 



'' God's will be done !" exclaimed suddenly the old Count, and 
departed. 

*' That is an odd man," said the most venerable of the peasants, 
eyeing the stranger who was hastening away ; " he must have 
something that heavily oppresses his soul, for he speaks not, and 
hastens away ; but, neighbors, the evening draws on apace, and 
the evenings in spring are not warm ; I think in the white clouds 
yonder, towards the Rhine, are still concealed some snow-storms — 
let us come to the w^arm hearth." 

The neighbors went their way, while the aged Count, in deep 
thought, passed up through the village, at the end of which he 
found himself before the churchyard. Terrific black crosses 
looked upon the traveller — the graves were netted over with 
brambles and wild roses — no foot tore asunder the entwinement. 
On the right hand of the road there stands a crucifix, hewn with 
rude art. From a recess in its pedestal a flame rises towards the 
bloody feet of the image, from a lamp nourished by the hand of 
devotion. 

" Man of sorrovv^," thus ascended the prayer of the traveller, 
'^ give me my son again — by thy wounds and sufferings, give me 
peace — peace !" 

He spoke, and turning round towards the n:iountain, he followed 
a narrow path, which conducted him to a brook, close under the 
flinty, pebbly grape hill. The soft murmurs of its waves rippling 
here and there over clear, bright stones, harmonized with his deep 
devotion. Here the Count found a boy and a girl, who, having 
picked flowers, were watching them carried away as they threw 
them into the current. 

When these children saw the pilgrim's reverend attire, they 
arose — looked up — seized the old man's hand, and kissed it. 
" God bless thee, children !" said the pilgrim, whom the touch of 
their little hands pleased. Seating himself on the ground, he 
said, " Children, give me to drink out of your pitcher." 

*^ You will find it taste good out of it, stranger-man," said the. 
little girl ; " it is our father's pitcher in which we carry him to 
drink upon the vine-hill. Look, yonder, he works upon the 
burning rocks — alas ! ever since the break of day ; our mother 
often takes out food to him." 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 187 

'' Is that your father," said the Count, " who with the heavy 
pickaxe is tearing up the ground so manfully, as if he would 
crush the rocks beneath ?" 

''Yes," said the boy, ''our father must sweat a good deal be- 
fore the mountain will bring forth grapes ; but when the vintage 
comes, then how gay is the scene ?" 

" Where does thy father dwell, boy ?" 

" There in the valley beneath, where the white gable end 
peeps between the trees : come with us, stranger-man, our mother 
will most gladly receive you, for it is her greatest joy when a 
tired wanderer calls in upon us." 

"Yes," said the little girl, "then we always have the best 
dishes ; therefore do come — I will conduct thee." 

So saying, the little girl seized the old Count's hand, and drew 
him forth — the boy, on the other side, keeping up with them, 
sprang backwards and forwards, continually looking kindly at 
the stranger, and thus, slowly advancing, they arrived at the hut. 

The Haus-frau (wife) was occupied in blowing the light ashes 
to awaken a slumbering spark, as the pilgrim entered : at the 
voices of her children she looked up, saw the stranger, and raissd 
herself immediately ; advancing towards him with a cheerful 
countenance, he said; — 

'' Welcome, reverend pilgrim, in this poor hut — if you stand 
in need of refreshment after your toilsome pilgrimage, seek it 
from us ; do not carry the blessing which you bring with you 
farther." 

Having thus spoken, she conducted the old man into the small 
but clean room. When he had sat down, he said — 

" Woman ! thou hast pretty and animated children ; I wish I 
had such a boy as that !" 

" Yes !" said the Haus-frau, " he resembles his father — free 
and courageously he often goes alone upon the mountain, and 
speaks of castles he will build there. Ah ! sir, if you knew how 
heavy that weighs upon my heart !" — (the woman concealed a 
tear.) 

" Counsel may here be had," said the Count ; " I have no son, 
and will of yours, if you give him me, make a knight — my castle 
will some of these days be empty — no robust son bears my arms." 



188 BUBBLES. 



" Dear mother !'•' said the boy, ^' if the castle of the aged man 
is empty, I can surely, when I am big, go thither ?" 

"And leave me here alone ?" said the mother. 

"No, you will also go !" said the boy warmly; "how beauti- 
ful it is to look from the height of a castle into the valley beneath !" 

" He has a true knightly mind," said the Count ; " is he born 
here in the valley ?" 

" Prayer and labor," said the mother, '- is God's command, and 
they are better than all the knightly honors that you can promise 
the boy — he will, like his father, cultivate the vine, and trust to 
the blessing of God, who rain and sunshine gives : knights sit in 
their castles and know not how much labor, yet how much 
blessing and peace can dwell in a poor man's hut ! My husband 
was oppressed with heavy sorrow ; alas ! on my account was his 
heartfelt grief; but since he found this hut, and works here, he 
is much more cheerful than formerly ; from the tempest of life 
he has entered the harbor of peace — patiently he bears the heat 
of the day, and when I pity him, he says, ' Wife, I am indeed 
now happy;' yet frequently a troubled thought appears to pierce 
his soul — I watch him narrowly — a tear then steals down his 
brown cheeks. Ah ! surely he thinks of the place of his birth — 
of a now very aged grey father — and while I see you, a tear also 
comes to me — so is perhaps now — " 

At this minute the little girl interrupted her, pulled her gently 
by the gown, and spoke — 

" Mother ! come into the kitchen ; our father will soon be 
home." 

"You are right," said the mother, leaving the room; "in con- 
versation I forget myself." 

In deep meditation the aged Count sat and thought, " Where 
may, then, this night my son sleep ....?" 

Suddenly he was roused from his deep melancholy by the 
lively boy, who had taken an old hunting-spear from the corner of 
the room, and placing himself before the Count he said — 

" See ! thus my father kills the wild boar on the mountains — 
there runs one along ! my father cries ^ Huy !' and immediately 
the wild boar throws himself upon the hunter's spear ; the spear 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 189 

sticks deep into ihe brain ! it is hard enough to draw it out !'' 
The boy made actions as if the boar was there. 

" Right so, my boy !" said the aged man ; ^' but does thy father, 
then, often hunt upon these mountains ?" 

" Yes ! that he does, and the neighbors praise him highly, and 
call him the valiant extirpator, because he kills the boars which 
destroy the corn !" 

In the midst of this conversation the father entered ; his wife 
ran towards him, pressed his sinewy hand, and spoke — 

" You have had again a hot laboring day !' 

" Yes," said the man, " but I find the heavy pickaxe light in 
hand when I think of you. God is gracious to the industrious and 
honest laborer, and that he feels truly when he has sweated 
through a long day." 

" Our father is without!" cried suddenly the boy, threw the 
hunter's spear into the middle of the room, and ran forwards. 
The little girl was already hanging at his knees. 

" Good evening, father," cried the boy ; " come quick into the 
room, — there sits a stranger-man — a pilgrim whom I have brought 
to you !" 

" Ah ! there you have done well," said the father ; " one must 
not allow one tired to pass one's gate without inviting him in. 
Dear wife," continued he, " does not labor well reward itself, 
when one can receive and refresh a wanderer ? Bring us a glass 
of our best home-grown wine- — 1 do not know why I am so gay 
to-day, and why I do not experience the slightest fatigue.'^ 

Thus spoke the husband — went into the room — pressed the 
hand of the stranger, and spoke — 

" Welcome, pious pilgrim ! your object is so praiseworthy ; a 
draught taken with so brave a man must taste doubly good !" 

They sat down opposite to each other in a room half-dark — the 
children sat upon their father's knees. 

" Relate to us something, father, as usual !" said the boy. 

" That won't do to-day," replied the father ; " for we have a 
guest here — but what does my hunter's spear do there ? have 
you been again playing with it ? carry it away into the corner." 

" You have there," said the pilgrim, " a young knight who 
knows already how to kill boars — also you are, I hear, a renowned 



190 BUBBLES. 



huntsman in this valley ; therefore you have something of the 
spirit of a knight in you." 

^' Yes !" said the vine-laborer, " old love rusts not, neither 
does the love of arms ; so often as I look upon that spear, I wish it 
were there for some use.... formerly.... but, aged sir, we will not 
think of the past ! Wife ! bring to the revered — " 

At this moment the Haus-frau entered, placed a jug and goblets 
on the table, and said — 

'* May it refresh and do thee good !*' 

" That it does already," said the pilgrim, " presented by so fair 
a hand, and with such a friendly countenance !" 

The Haus-frau poured out, and the men drank, striking their 
glasses with a good clank ; the little girl slipped down from her 
father's knee, and ran with the mother into the kitchen ; the boy 
looked wistfully into his father's eyes smilingly, and then towards 
the pitcher — the father understood him, and gave him some wine ; 
he became more and more lively, and again smiled at the pitcher. 

" This boy will never be a peaceful vine-laborer as I am," said 
the father ; " he has something of the nature of his grandfather 
in him ; hot and hasty, but in other respects a good-hearted boy 
— brave and honorable.... Alas ! the remembrance of w^hat is pain- 
ful is most apt to assail one by a cheerful glass If he did but 

see thee. ...thee. ...child of the best and most affectionate mother — 
on thy account he would not any longer be offended with thy 
father and mother : thy innocent gambols would rejoice his old 
age — in thee would he see the fire of his youth revived again — 
but...." 

" What dost thou say there?" said the pilgrim, stopping him 
abruptly ; " explain that more fully to me !" 

" Perhaps I have already said too much, reverend father, but 
ascribe it to the wine which makes one talkative ; I will no more 
afflict thee with my unfortunate history !" 

" Speak !" said the pilgrim, vehemently and beseechingly ; 
" Speak ! who art thou ?" 

" What connexion hast thou with the w^orld, pious pilgrim, that 
you can still trouble yourself about one who^has suffered much, 
and who has now arrived at the port of peace ?" 

** Speak !" said the pilgrim ; *' I must know thy history." 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 191 

" Well !" replied he, " let it be ! — I was not born a vine- 
laborer — a noble stem has engendered me — but love for a maiden 
drove me from my home." 

" Love ?" cried the pilgrim, moved. 

" Yes ! I loved a maiden, quite a child of nature, not of great- 
ness — my father was displeased — in a sudden burst of passion he 
drove me from him — wicked relations, who, he being childless, 
would inherit, inflamed his wrath against me, and he, whom I yet 
honor, and who also surely still cherishes me in his heart — he...," 

The pilgrim suddenly rose, and went to the door. 

" What is the matter with thee ?" said the astonished vine- 
laborer ; '•' has this affected thee too much ?" 

The boy sprang after the aged man, and held him by the hand. 
" Thou wilt not depart, pilgrim ?" said he. 

At this minute the Haus-frau entered with a light. At one 
glance into the countenance of the vine-laborer, the aged Count 
exclaim.ed, " My Son !" and fell motionless into his arms. As 
his senses returned, the father and son recognized each other. 
Adelaide, the noble, faithful wife, weeping, held the hands of the 
aged man, while the children knelt before him. 

" Pardon, father !" said the son. 

*^ Grant it to me !" replied the pilgrim, " and grant to your 
father a spot in your quiet harbor of peace, where he may end 
his days. Son ! thou art of a noble nature, and thy lovely wife 
is worthy of thee — thy children will resemble thee — no ignoble 
blood runs in their veins. Henceforth bear my arms ; but as an 
honorable remembrance for posterity, add to them a pilgrim and 
the pickaxe, that henceforth no man of high birth may conceive 
that labor degrades man — or despise the peasant who in fact 
nourishes and protects the nobleman." 



On leaving Frauenstein, which lies low in the range of the 
Taunus hill, I found that every trot my pony took introduced me 
to a more genial climate and to more luxuriant crops. But vege- 
tation did not seem alone to rejoice in the change. The human 
face became softer and softer as I proceeded, and the stringy, 



192 BUBBLES. 



weather-beaten features of the mountain peasant were changed 
for countenances pulpy, fleshy, and evidently better fed. As I 
continued to descend, the cows became larger and fatter, the 
liorses higher as well as stouter, and a few pigs I met had more 
lard in their composition than could have been extracted from the 
whole Langen-Schv»^albach drove, with their old driver, the 
Schwein-General, to boot. Jogging onwards, I began at last to 
fancy that my very own mind was becoming enervated ; for 
several times, after passing well-dressed people, did I catch my- 
self smoothing with my long staff the rough shaggy mane of my 
pony, or else brushing from my sleeve some rusty hairs, which a 
short half-hour ago I should have felt were just as well sticking 
upon my coat as on his. 

[nstead of keen, light mountain air, I now felt myself over- 
powered by a burning sun ; but in compensation. Nature displayed 
crops which were very luxuriant of their sorts. The following is 
a list of those I passed, in merely riding from Frauenstein to 
Mainz ; it will give some idea of the produce of that highly- 
favored belt, or district, of Nassau (known by the name of the 
Rhein-gau) which lies between the bottom of the Taunus hills 
and the Rhine : — 

Vinej'ards, Plum Trees of several sort5, 

Hop-gardens, Standard Apricots, 

Fields of Kidney-beans, Peaches, 

Tobacco, Nectarines, 

Hemp, Walnuts, 

^lax, Pears, ^ of various sorts. 

Buck W heat, Apples, > 

Kohl-Rabi, Spanish Chestnuts, 

Man^el-Wurzel, Horse Chestnuts, 

Fields of Beans and Peas, Almonds, 

Indian Corn, Quinces, 

Wheat of various sorts. Medlars, 

Barley, Fip, 

Oats, Wild Raspberries, 

Rye, Wild Gooseberries, 

Rape, Wild Strawberries, 

Potatoes, Currants, 

Carrots, Gooseberries, 

Turnips, Whortleberries, 

Clover of various sorts, Rhubarb, 

Grass, Cabbages of all sorta, 

Lucerne, Garlick, 

Tares, Tomatoa. 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 193 



To any one who has been living in secluded retirement, even 
for a short time, a visit to a populous city is a dram, causing an 
excitement of the mind, too often mistaken for its refreshment. 
Accordingly, on my arrival at Mainz, I must own, for a few 
minutes, 1 was gratified with every human being or animal that 
I met — at all the aiticles displayed in the shops — and for some 
time, in mental delirium, I revelled in the bustling scene before 
me. However, having business of some little importance to 
transact, I had occasion, more than once, to walk from one part 
of the town to another, until getting leg- weary, I began to feel that 
{ was not suited to the scene before me ; in short, that the crutches 
made by Nature for declining life are quietne^ and retirement ; 
I, therefore, longed to leavo the sunshiny scene before me, and to 
ascend once again to the clouds of Schlangenbad^ from which I 
had so lately fallen. 

With this object I had mounted my pony, v/ho, much less sen- 
timental than myself, would probably most willingly have 
expended the remainder of his existence in a city which, in less 
than three hours, had miraculously poured into his manger three 
feeds of heavy oats ; and I was actually on the bridge of boats 
which crosses the Rhine, when, finding that the saddle was press- 
ing upon his withers, I inquired where I could purchase any sort 
of substance to place between them, and being directed to a tailor 
celebrated for supplying all the government postilions with leather 
breeches, I soon succeeded in reaching a door which corresponded 
with the street and num.ber that had been given to me ; however, 
on entering, I found nothing but a well-staircase, pitch dark, with 
a rope instead of a hand-rail. 

At every landing-place, inquiring for the artist I was seeking, 
I was always told to go up higher ; at last, when I reached the 
uppermost stratum of the building, I entered a room which seemed 
to be made of yellow leather, for on two sides buckskins were 
piled up to the ceiling ; leather breeches, trowsers, drawers, 
gloves, &c., were hanging on the other walls, while the great 
table in the middle of the room v/as covered with skinny fragments 
of all shapes and sizes. In this new world which I had dis- 
covered, the only inhabitants consisted of a master and his son. 
The former was a mild tall man of about fifty, but a human 
14 



194 BUBBLES. 



being so very thin, I think, I never before beheld ! He wore 
neither coat, v/aisteoat, neckcloth, nor shirt, but merely an elastic 
worsted dress (in fact, a Guernsey frock), which fitted him like 
his skin, the rest of his lean figure being concealed by a large, 
loose, coarse linen apron. The son, who was about twenty-two, 
was not bad-looking, but '' talis i^ater, talis Jilius,^' he was just as 
thin as his father, and really, though I was anxious hastily to 
explain what I wanted, yet my eyes could not help wandering 
from father to son, and from son to father, perfectly unable to 
determine which was the thinnest, for though one does not expect 
to find very much power of body or mind among tailors of any 
country (nor indeed do they require it), yet really this pair of 
them seemed as if they had not strength enough united to make 
a pair of knee-breeches for a skeleton. 

Having gravely explained the sirAple object of my visit, I 
managed to grope my way down and round, and round and down 
the well-staircase, stopping only occasionally to feel my way, and 
to reflect with several degrees of pity on the poor thin beings I 
had left above me ; and even when 1 got down to my pony (he 
had been waiting for me very patiently), I am sure we trotted 
nearly a couple of hundred yards before I could shake out of 
my head the wan, spectre-like appearance of the old man, or the 
weak, slight, hectic-looking figure of the young one ; and I finished 
by sentimentally settling in my own mind that the father was 
consumptive — that the son was a chip from the same block — and 
that they were both galloping, neck and neck, from their breeches- 
board to their graves, as hard as they could go. 

These gloomy reflections were scarcely a quarter of a mile 
long, when I discovered that I had left my memorandum-book 
behind me, and so, instantly returning, I groped my way to the 
top of the identical staircase I had so lately descended. I was 
there told that the old gentleman and his son were at dinner, but, 
determining not to lose my notes, in T went — and I cannot de- 
scribe one-hundredth part of the feelings which came over me, 
when I saw the two creatures upon whom I had wasted so much 
pity and fine sentiment, for there they sat before me on their 
shop-board, with an immense wash-hand basin, that had been full 
of common blue Orleans plums, which they were still munching 



JOURNEY TO MAINZ. 195 

with extraordinary avidity. A very small piece of bread was in 
eacli of their left hands, but the immense number of plum-stones 
on both sides of them betrayed the voracity with which they had 
been proceeding with their meal. 

"Thin! — no wonder you are thin!" I muttered to myself; 
" no wonder that your chests and your back-bones seem to touch 
each other !'^ 

Never before had I, among rational beings, witnessed such a 
repast; and it really seemed as if nothing could interrupt it, for 
all the time I was asking for what I wanted, both father and son 
were silently devouring these infernal plums ; however, after re- 
mounting my pony, I could not help admitting that the picture 
was not without its tiny moral. Two German tailors had been 
cheerfully eating a vegetable dinner — so does the Italian who 
lives on macaroni ; — so does the Irish laborer who lives on pota- 
toes ; — ^so do the French peasants who eat little but bread ; so do 
the millions who subsist in India on rice — in Africa on dates — in 
the South-Sea Islands and West Indies on the bread-tree and on 
yams ; in fact, only a very small proportion of the inhabitants of 
this globe are carnivorous : yet, in England, we are so accus- 
tomed to the gouty luxury of meat, that it is now almost looked 
upon as a necessary ; and though our poor, we must all confess, 
generally speaking, are religiously patient, yet so soon as the 
middle classes are driven from animal to vegetable diet, they car- 
nivorously both believe and argue that they are in the world re- 
markable objects of distress — that their country is in distress — 
that " thinors cannot last ;" in short, pointing to an artificial scale 
of luxury, which they themselves have hung up in their own 
minds, or rather in their stomachs, they persist that vegetable 
diet is low diet — that being without roast beef is living below 
zero, and that molares, or teeth for grinding the roots and fruits 
of the earth, must have been given to mankind in general, and to 
the English nation in particular — by mistake. 

After re-crossing the Rhine by the bridge of boats, the sun be- 
ing oppressively hot, I joyfully bade adieu to the sultry dry city 
and garrison of Mainz. 

As I gradually ascended towards my home, I found the air 
becoming cooler and fresher, the herbage greener and greener, 



196 BUBBLES. 



the foliage of the beech-trees brighter and cleaner ; everything in 
the valley seemed in peaceful silence to be welcoming my return ; 
and when I came actually in si<^ht of the hermitage of Schlan- 
genbad, I could not help muttering in triumph to myself, " Hard 
features — hard life — lean pigs, and lovely nature, for ever T^ 



EXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD. 197 



EXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD. 



Wishing to see Rudesheim and its neighborhood, I one morning 
left Schlangenbad very early, in a hired open carriage, drawn by 
a pair of small, punchy horses. 

We were to get first to the Rhine at the village of Ellfeld, and 
we accordingly proceeded about a league on the great macadam- 
ized road towards Mainz, when, turning to the right, we passed 
under the celebrated hill of Rauenthal, and then very shortly 
came in sight of the retired peaceful little village of Neudorf. 
The simple outline of this remote hamlet, as well as the costume 
and attitudes of a row of peasants, who, seated on a grassy bank 
at the road-side, were resting from their labor, formed the subject 
of an interesting sketch which the Paneidolon presented to me in 
a very few minutes. 

This exceedingly clever, newly-invented instrument, the most 
silent — the most faithful — and one of the most entertaining com- 
pagTions de voyage which any traveller can desire, consists of a 
small box, in which can be packed anything it is capable of hold- 
ing. On being emptied for use, all that is necessary is to put 
one's head into one side, and then trace with a pencil the objects 
which are instantly seen most beautifully delineated at the other. 

Whether the perspective be complicated or simple — whether 
the figures be human or inhuman, it is all the same, for they are 
traced with equal facility, rain not even retarding the operation. 
The Paneidolon also possesses an advantage which all very 
modest people will, I think, appreciate ; for the operator's face 
being (like Jack's) " in a box," no person can stare at it or the 
drawing ; whereas, while sketching with the camera lucida, 
everybody must have observed that the village peasants in crowds, 
not only watch every line of the pencil, but laugh outright at the 



198 BUBBLES. 



contortion of countenance with which the poor Syntax in search 
of the picturesque, having one optic closed, squints with the other 
through a hole scarcely bigger than the head of a pin, standing 
all the time in the inquisitive attitude of a young magpie looking 
into a marrow- bone. 

On leaving Neudorf, getting into a c^oss country road or 
chemin de terre, we began, with the carriage- wheel dragged, an 
uninterrupted descent, which was to lead us to the banks of the 
Rhine. The horses (which had no blinkers) having neither to 
pull nor to hold back, were trotting merrily along, occasionally 
looking at me — occasionally biting at each other : everything was 
delightful, save and except a whiff of tobacco, which, about six 
times a minute, like a sort of pulsation, proved that my torpid 
driver was not really, as he appeared to be — a corpse ; when, all 
of a sudden, as we were jolting down a narrow ravine, sur- 
mounted by vineyards, I saw, about a hundred yards before us, 
a cart heavily laden, drawn by two little cows. There happened 
at the moment to be a small road at right angles on our left, into 
which we ought to have turned to let our opponent pass ; but 
either the driver did not see, or would not see, the humble vehicle, 
and so onwards he recklessly drove, until our horses' heads and 
the cows' horns being nearly close together, the dull, heavy lord 
of the creation pulled at his reins and stopped. 

The road was so narrow, and the banks of the ravine so pre- 
cipitous, that there was scarcely room on either side of the ve- 
hicle for a human being to pass ; and the cows and horses being 
vis-a-vis, or " at issue," the legal question now arose, which of 
the two carriages was to retrograde. 

As, without metaphor, I sat on my woolsack, or cushion stufted 
with wool, my first judgment was, that the odds were not in favor 
of the defendant, the poor old woman, — for she had not only to 
contend with the plaintiff (my stupid driver), his yellow carriage, 
and two bay horses, but the hill itself was sadly against her ; her 
opponent loudly exclaiming that she and her cows could retire 
easier than he could. The toothless old woman did not attempt 
to plead for herself; but what was infinitely better, having first 
proved, by pushing at her cows' heads with all her force, that 
they actually did not know how to back, she hant against the 



EXCURSION TO THE NlEDERWALD. 199 

bank, showing us a face which had every appearance of going 
to sleep. Seeing affairs in this state, I got out of the carriage, 
and quietly walked on : however, I afterwards learned, with great 
pleasure, that the old woman gained her cause, and that the squab- 
ble had ended by the yellow carriage retreating to the point where 
its stupid, inanimate driver ought to have stopped it. 

On arriving at the bottom of the lane, we reached that noble 
road, running parallel with and close to the Rhine, which was 
brought into its present excellent state in the time of Napoleon. 
Along it, with considerable noise, we trotted steadily, stopping 
only once every half-hour to pay a few kreuzers at what was 
called the Barriere. No barrier, -however, existed, there being 
nothing to mark the fatal spot but an inanimate, party-colored 
post, exhibiting, in stripes of blue and orange, the government 
colors of Nassau. 

On the horses stopping, which they seemed most loyally to do 
of their ovv'n accord, the person whose office it was to collect this 
road-money, or ckausseegelt, in process of time appeared at a 
window with a heavy pipj hanging in his mouth, and in his hand 
an immense long stick, to the end of which there was affixed a 
small box containing a ticket, in exchange for which I silently 
dropped my money into this till. Not a word was spoken, but, 
with the gravity of an angler, the man, having drawn in his rod, 
a whiff of tobacco was vomited from his mouth, and then the 
windov/, like the transaction — closed. 

After proceeding for some hours, having passed through Erbach 
and Hattenheim, we drove through the village of Johannisberg, 
which lies crouching at the foot of the hill so remarkable on the 
Rhine for being crowned with the white, shining habitation of 
Prince Metternich. The celebrated vineyards on this estate were 
swarming with laborers, male and female, who were seen busily 
lopping oiF the exuberant heads of the vines, an operation which 
with arms lifted above their heads, was not inelegantly performed, 
with a common sickle. 

The Rhine had now assumed the appearance of a lake, for 
which, at this spot, it is so remarkable, and Rudesheim, to which 
I was proceeding, appeared to be situated at its extremity ; the 



200 BUBBLES. 



chasm which the river has there burst for itself through the 
lofty range of the Taunus mountains not being perceptible. 

On arriving at Rudesheim, I most joyfully extricated myself 
from the carriage, and instantly hiring a guide and a mule, I con- 
tentedly told the farmer to drive me before him to whatever point 
in his neighborhood was generally considered to be the best worth 
seeing ; and perfectly unconscious where he would propel me, the 
man began to beat the mule — the mule began to trot along — and, 
little black memorandum-book in hand, I began to make my notes. 

After ascending a very narrov/ path, v/hich passed through 
vineyards, the sun, as I became exposed to it, feeling hotter and 
hotter, I entered a wild, low, stunted plantation of oak shrubs, 
which was soon exchanged for a noble wood of oak and beech 
trees, between which I had room enough to ride in any direction. 
The shade was exceedingly agreeable ; the view, however, was 
totally concealed, until I suddenly came to a projecting point, on 
which there was a small temple, commanding a most splendid 
prospect. 

After resting here for a few minutes, my mule and his burden 
again entered the forest ; and, continuing to ascend to a conside- 
rable height, we both at last approached a large stone building- 
like a barrack, part of which was in ruins ; and no sooner had 
we reached its southern extremity, than my guide, with a look of 
vast importance, arrested the progress of the beast. As I beheld 
nothing at all v/orth the jolting I had had in the carriage, I felt 
most grievously disappointed ; and though I had no one's bad 
taste to accuse but my own, in having committed myself to the 
barbarous biped who stood before me, yet I felt, if possible, still 
more out of sorts at the fellow desiring me to halloo as loud as I 
could, he informing me, with a look of indescribable self-satisfac- 
tion, that as soon as I should do so, an echo would repeat all my 
exclamations three times ! ! ! 

The man seeing I did not at all enjoy his noisy miracle, made 
a sign to me to follow him, and he accordingly led me to what 
appeared to my eyes to be nothing but a large heap of stones held 
together by brambles. At one side, however, of this confused 
mass, there appeared to be a hole which looked very much as if 
it had been intended for an ice-house : however, on entering it, I 



EXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD. 



201 



found it to be a long, dark, subterranean passage, cut out of the 
solid rock ; and here, groping my way, I followed my guide, until, 
coming to a wooden partition or door, he opened it, when, to my 
great astonishment and delight, I found myself in an octagonal 
chamber, most deservedly called Bezauberte Hohle — the enchant- 
ed cave ! 

It was a cavern or cavity in the rock, with three fissures or 
embrasures radiating at a small angle ; yet each looking down 
upon the Rhine, which, pent within its narrow rocky channel, 
was, at a great depth, struggling immediately beneath us. The 
sudden burst into daylight, and the brightness of the gay, sun- 
shiny scenes which through the three rude windows had come so 
suddenly to view (for I really did not know that I was on the 
brink of the precipice of the Rhine), was exceedingly enchanting, 
and I was fully enjoying it as v/ell as the reflection that there 
was no one to interrupt me, when I suddenly fancied that I cer- 
tainly heard, somewhere or other within the bowels of the living 
rock in which I was embedded, a faint sound like the melody of 
female voices, which, in marked measure, seemed to swell strong- 
er and stronger, until I decidedly and plainly heard them in full 
chorus chanting the follov/ing well-known national air of this 
country : — 

SCHLANGENBADER VOLKSLIED. 



Modtrato. <i 



JVational Air of Schlangenbad, 



mm^. 



4e-9- 



lzrq=z^z:1t=T 



Bru - der 



ich und du, Bru - der 




20-2 



BUBBLES. 



i 



----^-S-.--i- 



■z=z===zE*=?E±*-=*==?=z=z±z?=Ezzr 



ich und du, wir schlafen im - nier - zu. 

:z$z#z^~ii"r:^zz«: 

« — « — «- 

# — « — «- 



:q:|:l|:z]z±S1S1iS:i 



^^^i-i^'^~=^^-=f?===^i—=- 



«- 
.q:- 



-:zl;- 



li^: 



z±:i 



-#z* 



zzz=z:*zz*?z?=*z±«5zttzzzzlizzk?z*z:izf 



Still und still und im - mer still weil mein madchen 

-^fc^zz^zz^zJ^-l-^-^t. 

y. I ffl 

:S: 



-«- 



-« — «■ 

-• — «s— « 



^i*z*#:^zzzz-_-r==Hzzzz:szizH~ 



:^zS: 



:=!:- 



u^.. 




1 



-#-=*■ 



p?izSzzg5^pzi= 
|zzzzzz?3iBzzti= 

schla-fen will, 

-ESi*t:-s 

s •— « — « 

*: « — jl — e 



:=]: 



:=:zl=: 



-^- 



—9- 



stil 



le! 



stil 




-*- -*- -»- 



-*-•!- -^-S'- 



aifc?^z^EE=EEi5,EEzSE~:iSEzz4=::| 
=zz!z!:5==:— iHzzz=izt:zzz:S:z:zzlz="f 



y 






EXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD. 203 




^t' "^ ^ 



^-*— :g?i1^=q^2=l!ir:^^=;=:q=zz:=zz=zz=fF 



•^^ifc^r^— It 



'-A—' 



Kein gerauscii ge - - macht! 






"**'-«*- ^"-$("*''-<^- "- -i^- ' -«^- ' -^- -^- :S: 



iigs 



— , 

:q— : 



:i^=— : 



:=F=:zz-z:-it 






From time to time the earthly or unearthly sounds died away, 
- — lost in the intricate turns of the subterraEeous passage ; — at 
last, they were heard as if craving permission to enter, and my 
.guide running to the wooden door, no sooner threw it wide open, 
?than the music at once rushing in like a flood, filled the vaulted 
•chamber in which I stood, and in a few seconds, to my very great 
surprise, there marched in, two by tv/o, a youthful bridal party ! 
the heads of eight or ten young girls (following a bride and a 
l)ridegroom) were ornamented with wreaths of bright green leaves, 
%vhich formed a pleasing contrast with their brown hair of vari- 
KDUS shades, and most particularly with the raven black tresses of 
the bride, which were plaited round her pleasing, modest-looking 
face very gracefully. 

The whole party (the bridegroom the only representative of his 
«ex, of course included), had left Mainz that morning, to spend a 
happy day in the magic cave ; and, certainly, their unexpected 
appearance gave a fairy enchantment to the scene. 

After continuing their patriotic song for some time, suddenly 
letting go each other's hands, they flev/ to the three fissures in the 
rock, and I heard them, with great emphasis, point out to each 
•other Bingenloch, Rheinstein, and other romantic points equally 
celebrated for their beauty. These youthful people then minutely 
scanned over the interior of the vaulted grave in which we were 
all so delightfully buried alive ; at last, so like young travellers, 
"^ey all felt an irresistible desire to scrawl their names upon the 



204 BUBBLES, 



wall ; and, seeing a weather-beaten old man reclining in one cor- 
ner of the chamber, with about an inch of pencil in his lean, 
withered hand, the bride, bowing with pleasing modesty and diffi- 
dence, asked me to lend it to her. 

Her name, and that of her partner, were accordingly inscribed ; 
and others would, with equal bursts of joy, have been added to 
the list, but observing that my poor pencil, which would still have 
lived in my service many a year, and which, in fact, was all I 
had, was, from its violent rencontres with the hard, gritty wall, 
actually gasping for life in the illiterate clutches of a great bony 
bridesnrmid, I very civilly managed, under pretence of cutting it^ 
to extract it from her grasp ; and the attention of the youthful 
party flitting of its own accord to some other object, the stump of 
my poor crayon was miraculously spared to continue its humble 
notes of the day's proceedings. 

On leaving the enchanted cave, we ascended through a noble 
oak wood, until reaching a most celebrated pinnacle of the Taunus 
mountains, we arrived at the Rossel, an old ruined castle, which, 
standing on the Niederwald like a weather-beaten sentinel at his 
post, seemed to be faithfully guarding the entrance of that strange 
mysterious chasm, through which, at an immense depth beneath, 
the river was triumphantly and majestically flowing. 

Although the view from the ruined top of this castle was very 
extensive and magnificent, yet the dark struggling river was so- 
remarkable an object, that it at first completely engrossed my at- 
tention. While the great mass of water continued to flow on its 
course, a sort of civil war was raging between various particles 
of the element. In some places an eddy seemed to be rebelliously 
trying to stem the stream ; in others the water was slowly revolv- 
ing in a circle ; — here it was seen tumbling and breaking over a 
sunken rock — there as smooth as glass. In the middle of these 
fractious scenes, there lay, as it were, calmly at anchor, two or 
three islands, covered with poplars and willows, upon one of which 
stood the ruins of the Mduseihur?n, or tower of that stingy bishop 
of Mainz, famous, or rather infamous, in the history of the Rhine, 
for having been gnawed to death by rats. On the opposite side 
of the river were to be seen the Rochus Capelle, a tower built to 
commemorate the cessation of the plague, the beautiful castle of 



JEXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD. 205 

Rheinstein, the residence of Prince Frederick of Prussia, the 
blue-slated town of Bingen, with its bridge crossing the Nahe, 
which, running at right angles, here delivers up its waters to the 
Rhine. 

The difference in caste or colors between the two rivers at their 
point of meeting is very remarkable, the Rhine being clear and 
green, the Nahe a deep muddy brown ; however, they no sooner 
enter the chasm in the Taunus hills than the distinction is annihi- 
lated in the violent hubble-bubble commotions which ensue. 

The view beyond these home objects now attracted my attention. 
The Prussian hills opposite were richly clothed with w^ood, while 
on their left lay prostrate the province of Darmstadt, a large 
brown flat space, studded, as far as the eye could reach, with 
villages, which, though distinctly remarkable in the foreground, 
were yet scarcely perceptible in the perspective. Behind my 
back was the Duchy of Nassau, with several old ruined castles 
perched on the pinnacles of the wood-covered hills of the Nie- 
derwald. 

During the whole time that I was placidly enjoying this beauti- 
ful picture around and beneath me, the bridal party of young 
people, equally happy in their way, were singing, laughing, or 
waltzing ; and their cheerful accents, echoing from one old ruin 
to another, seemed for the moment to restore to these deserted 
walls that joy to which they had so long been a stranger. 

Having at last mounted my mule, I attempted to bid my compa- 
nions farewell ; however, they insisted on accompanying me and 
my guide through the forest, singing their national airs in chorus 
as they went. Their footsteps kept pace with their tunes, and as 
they advanced, their young voices thrilled among the trees with 
great effect : sometimes the wild melody, like a stop- waltz, sud- 
denly ceased, and they proceeded several paces in silence ; then, 
again, it as unexpectedly burst upon the ear, — in short, like the 
children of all German schools, they had evidently been taught 
time and the complete management of their voices, a natural and 
pleasing accomplishment, which can scarcely be sufficiently 
admired. 

From these young people themselves I did not attempt to ex- 
tract their little history ; but I learnt from my guide in a whisper 



206 BUBBLES. 



(for which I thought there was no great occasion), that the young 
couple w^ho hand in hand before me were leading the procession 
through the w^ood, were verlobt (affianced), that is to say, they 
were under sentence eventually to be married. 

This quiet, jog-trot, half-and-half connubial arrangement is very 
common indeed all over Germany ; and no sooner is it settled and 
approved of, than the young people are permitted to associate to- 
gether at almost all times, notwithstanding it is often decreed to 
be prudent that many years should elapse before their marriage 
can possibly take place : in short, they are constantly obliged to 
wait until either their income rises sufficiently, or until butter, 
me^t, bread, coffee, tobacco, and candles sufficiently fall. 

As seated on my mule I followed these steady, well-behaved, 
and apparently well-educated young people through the forest, 
listening to their cheerful choruses, I could not, during one short 
interval of silence, help reflecting how differently such unions are 
.managed in different countries on the globe. 

A quarter of a century has nearly elapsed since I chanced to 
be crossing from the island of Salamis to Athens, with a young 
Athenian of rank, who was also, in his way, " affianced." We 
spent, I remember, the night together in an open boat, and cer- 
tainly never did I before or since witness the aching of a lad's 
heart produce effects so closely resembling the aching of his 
stomach. My friend lay at the bottom of the trabacolo absolutely 
groaning with love ; his moans were piteous beyond description, 
and nothing seemed to afford his affliction any relief but the fol- 
lowing stanza, which over and over again he continued most 
romantically singing to the moon : — 

" Quando la notte viene, 
Non ho riposo, Nice, 
Son misero e infelice 
Esser lontan da te !" 

On his arrival at Athens he earnestly entreated me to call for 
him on the object of his affection, for he himself, by the custom 
of his country, was not allowed to see her, precisely from the 
very same reason which permitted the young German couple to 



EXCURSION TO THE NIEDERWALD. 207 

stroll together through the lonely, lovely forest of the Niederwald, 
namely — because they were '^ verloht.''' 

The bridal party now separated themselves from my guide, my 
mule, and myself; they, waving their handkerchiefs to us, de- 
scended a path on the right ; we continuing the old track, which 
led us at last to the village of Rudesheim. 

As soon as the horses could be put to my carriage, it being 
quite late, I set out by moonlight, to return. Vineyards, orchards, 
and harvest were now veiled from my view, but the castle of 
Prince Metternich — the solitary tower of Scharfenstein, and the 
dark range of the Taunus mountains had assumed a strange, ob- 
scure, and supernatural appearance magnificently contrasted with 
the long bright, serpentine course of the Rhine, which, shining 
from Bingen to Mainz, glided joyfully along, as if it knew it had 
attracted to itself the light which the landscape had lost. 

On leaving the great chaussee, which runs along the banks of 
the river, like the towing-path of a canal, we ascended the cross 
road, down which we had trundled so merrily in the morning, and 
without meeting cows, carts, toothless old women, or any other 
obstruction, I reached about mid-night the Bad-Haus of Schlan- 
genbad. On ascending the staircase, I found that the two little 
lamps in the passage had expired ; how^ever, the key of my apart- 
ments was in my pocket, the moon was shining through the win- 
dow upon my table, and so, before one short hour had elapsed, 
Rudesheim — the niggardly Bishop of Mainz, with his tower and 
rats — the bridal party — the enchanted cave — the lofty Rossel, 
and the magnificent range of the Niederwald, were all tumbling 
head over heels in my mind, while I lay humbly and quietly be- 
neath them — asleep. 



208 BUBBLES. 



WIESBADEN. 



The day at last arrived for my departure from the green, happy 
little valley of Schlangenbad. Whether or not its viper baths 
really possess the effect ascribed to them, of tranquillizing the 
nerves, I will not presume to declare ; but that the loneliness and 
loveliness of the place can fascinate, as well as tranquillize, the 
mind, I believe as firmly, as I know that the Schlangenbad water 
rubs from the body the red rust of Langen-Schwalbach. 

Those who, on the tiny surface of this little world, please them- 
selves with the playing what they call " the great game of life," 
w^ould of course abhor a spot in which they could neither be 
envied nor admired ; but to any grovelling^ minded person, who 
thinks himself happy when he is quiet and clean, I can recom- 
mend this humble valley as a retreat exquisitely suited to his 
taste. 

After casting a farewell glance round apartments to which I 
felt myself most unaccountably attached, descending the long stair- 
case of the New Bad-Haus, I walked across the shrubbery to my 
carriage, around which had assembled a few people, who, I was 
very much surprised to find, were witnessing my departure with 
regret ! 

Luy, who had followed my (I mean Katherinchen's) footsteps 
so many a weary hour, strange as it may sound (and so contrary 
to what the poor ass must have felt), was evidently sorry I was 
going. The old -' Bad " man's countenance looked as serious 
and as wrinkled on the subject as the throat of his toad — his wan, 
sallow-faced Jezebel of a wife stood before the carriage-steps 
waving her lean hand in sorrow ; and the young maid of the Bad- 
Haus who had made my bed, merely because I had troubled her 
to do so for a longer period than any other visitor, actually began 



WIESBADEN. 209 



to shed some tears. The whole group begged permission to kiss 
my hand, and there was so much kind feeling evinced, that I Mt 
quite relieved when I found that the postilion and his horses had 
roughly spoiled the picture : in short, that they were trotting and 
trumpeting me along the broad macadamized road which leads to 
Wiesbaden. 

As I had determined on visiting the Duke of Nassau's hunt- 
ing-seat " Die Platte " in my way to \¥iesbaden, after proceeding 
about four miles, I left the carriage in the high road, and walking 
through the woods toward my object, 1 passed several very large 
plantations of fir-trees which had been sown so unusually thick that 
they were completely impervious, even to a wild boar ; for not 
only were the trees themselves merely a few inches asunder, but 
their branches, which feathered to the ground, interlaced one with 
another until they formed altogether an impenetrable jungle. 
Through this mass of vegetation, narrow paths, about three feet 
broad, were cut in various directions to enable the deer to traverse 
the country. 

In passing through the beech forest, I observed that the roads 
or cuts were often as much as forty or fifty feet in breadth, and 
every here and there the boughs and foliage were artificially 
entwined in a very ingenious manner, leaving small loop-holes 
through which the Duke, his visitors, or his huntsmen, might shoot 
at the game as they wildly darted by. A single one of these 
verdant batteries might possibly be observed and avoided by the 
cautious, deep-searching eye of the deer, but they exist all over 
the woods in such numbers, that the animals, accustomed to them 
from their birth, can fear nothing from them, until the fatal moment 
arrives, when their experience, so dearly bought, arrives too late. 

After advancing for about an hour through these green streets, 
I came suddenly upon the Duke's hunting-seat, the Platte, a plain 
white stone, cubic building, which, as if disdaining gardens, 
flower-beds, or any artificial embellishment, stands a,lone, on a 
prominent edge of the Taunus hills, looking down upon Wiesba- 
den, Mainz, Frankfurt, and over the immense flat, continental- 
looking country which I have already described. Its situation is 
very striking ; and though, of course, it is dreadfully exposed to 
the winter's blast, yet, as a sporting residence, during the sum- 
15 



210 BUBBLES. 



mer or autumn months, nothing, I think, can surpass the beauty 
and unrestrained mao;nificence of its view. 

Before the entrance door, in attitudes of great freedom, stand 
Uvo immense bronze statues of stags, most beautifully executed^ 
and on entering the apartments, which are lofty and grand, every 
article of furniture, as w^ell as every ornament, is ingeniously 
comiposed of pieces, larger or smaller, of buck-horn. Immense 
antlers, one above another, are ranged in the hall, as well as on 
the walls of the great staircase ; and certainly, when a sportsman 
comes to the Platte on a visit to the Duke of Nassau, everything 
his eyes can rest on not only reminds him of his favorite pursuit, 
but seems also to promise him as much of it as the keenest hunter 
can desire : in short, without the slightest pretension, the Platte is 
nobly adapted to its purpose, and with great liberality it is open 
at almost all times to the inspection of " gentlemen sportsmen " and 
travellers from all parts of the globe. About twelve hundred 
feet beneath it, in a comparatively fiat country, bounded on two 
sides by the Rhine and the Main, lies Wiesbaden, the capital of 
the Duchy of Nassau, the present seat of its Government, and the 
spot by far the most numerously attended as a watering-place. 

Looking down upon it from the Platte, this town or city is appa- 
rently about three-quarters of an English mile square, one quar- 
ter of this area being covered with a rubbishy old, the remainder 
with a staring, formal new town, composed of streets of white 
stone houses, running at right angles to each other. As I first 
approached it, it appeared to me to be as hot, as formal, and as 
uninteresting a place as I ever beheld ; however, as soon as I 
entered it, I very soon found out that its inhabitants, and indeed 
its visitors, entertain a very different opinion of the place, they 
pronouncing it to be one of the most fashionable, and consequently 
most agreeable, watering-places in all Gernmny. 

In searching for a lodging, I at once went to most of the prin- 
cipal hotels, several of which I found to be grievously afflicted 
with smells, which (though I most politely bowed to every person 
1 met in the passage) it did not at all suit me to encounter. At 
cne place, as an excuse for not taking the unsavory suite of apart- 
ments which were oifered to me, I ventured quietly to remark, 
that they were very much dearer than those I had just left. The 



WIESBADEN. 211 



master at once admitted the fact, but craning himself up into the 
proudest attitude his kirge stomach would admit of, he observed — 

'' Mais Monsieur f savez-vous que vous aurez a Wiesbaden 

plus d^ amusement dans une heure, que vous n^auriez a Schlangenbad 
dans un an? , . . ." 

In the horrid atmosphere in which I stood, I had no inclination 
to argue on happiness or any subject ; so hastening into the open 
air, I continued my search, until finding the landlord at the Eng- 
lischen Hof civil, obliging, and exceedingly anxious to humor all 
my old fashioned English whims and oddities, I accepted the 
rooms he offered me, and thus for a few days dropped my anchor 
in the capital of the duchy of Nassau. 

About twelve thousand strangers are supposed annually to visit 
this gay watering-place, and consequently, to pen up all this 
fashionable flock v/ithin the limits of so small a town, requires no 
little ramming, cramming, and good arrangement. The dinner 
hour, or time of the tables-d'hote, as at Langen-Schwalbach, 
Schlangenbad, and indeed all other places in Germany, was one 
o'clock, and the crowds of well-dressed hungry people who, at 
that hour, following their appetites, were in different directions 
seen slowly but resolutely advancing to their food, was very re- 
markable. Voluntarily enlisting into one of these marching regi- 
ments, I allowed myself to be carried along with it, I know not 
where, until I found myself, with a very empty stomach and a 
napkin on my knees, quietly seated at one of three immense long 
tables, in a room with above 250 people, all secretly as hungry 
as myself. 

The quantity of food and attention bestowed upon me for one 
florin filled me with astonishment, " and certainly," said I to my- 
self, " a man may travel very far indeed before he will find provi- 
sions and civility cheaper than in the duchy of Nassau !" The 
meat alone which was offered to me, if it had been thrown at my 
head raw, would have been not only a most excellent bargain, but 
much more than any one could possibly have expected for the 
money ; but when it was presented to me, cooked up with sauces 
of various flavors, attended with omelettes, fruits, tarts, puddings, 
preserves, fish, &c., &c., and served with a quantity of politeness 
and civility which seemed to be infinite, I own I felt that in the 



212 BUBBLES. 



scene around me there existed quite as much refreshment and food 
for the mind as for the body. 

It is seldom or never that I anywhere pay the slightest attention 
to dinner conversation, the dishes, ninety-nine times out of a hun- 
dred, being, in my opinion, so very much better ; however, much 
against my v/ill, I overheard some people talking of a duel, which 
I will mention, hoping it may tend to show by what disgusting, 
fiend-like sentiments this practice can be disgraced. 

A couple of Germans, having quarrelled about some beautiful 
lady, met with sabres in their hands to fight a duel. The ugly 
one, who was of course the most violent of the two, after many 
attempts to deprive his hated adversary of life, at last aimed a 
desperate blow at his head, which, though it missed its object, yet 
fell upon, and actually cut off, the good-looking man's nose. It 
had scarcely reached the ground, v/hen its owner, feeling that his 
beauty was gone, instantly threw away his sword, and with both 
arms extended, eagerly bent forwards with the intention to pick 
up his own property and replace it ; but the ugly German no 
sooner observed the intention, than darting forwards with the ma- 
lice of the Devil himself, he jumped upon the nose, and before its 
master's face crushed it and ground it to atoms ! 

In strolling very slowly about the town, after dinner, the first 
object which aroused my curiosity was a steam I observed rising 
through the iron gratings, which, at the corners of the streets, 
covered the main drains or common sewers of the town. At first 
I thought it proceeded from washerwomen, pig-scalders, or some 
such artificial cause ; but I no sooner reached the great Koch- 
brunnen (boiling spring), than I learnt it was the natural tempe- 
rature of the Wiesbaden waters that had thus attracted my 
attention. 

As I stood before this immense cauldron, with eyes staring at 
the volume of steam which was arising from it, and with ears 
listening to a civil person who was voluntarily explaining to me 
that there were fifleen other springs in the town, their tempera- 
ture being at all times of the year about 140® of Fahrenheit, I 
could not help feeling a sort of unpleasant sensation, similar to 
what I had experienced on the edges of Etna and Vesuvius ; in 
short, I had been so little accustomed to live in a town heated by 



WIESBADEN. 213 



subterranean fire, that it just crossed my mind, whether, in case 
the engineer below, from laziness, should put on too many coals 
at once, or, from carelessness, should neglect to keep open his 
proper valves, an explosion might not take place, which would 
suddenly send me, Koch-brunnen, Wiesbaden, and Co., on a shoot- 
ing excursion to the Duke's lofty hunting-seat, the Platte. The 
ground in the vicinity of these springs is so warm, that in winter 
the snow does not remain upon it ; and formerly, when these 
waters used to flow from the town into a small lake, from not freez- 
ing, it became in hard weather the resort of birds of all descrip- 
tions : indeed, even now, they say that that part of the Rhine into 
which the Wiesbaden waters eventually flow is observed to be 
remarkably free from ice. 

Wiesbaden, inhabited by people called Mattiaci, was not only 
known to the Romans, but fortified by the twenty-second legion, 
who also built baths, the remains of which exist to the present 
day. Even in such remote ages, it was observed that these 
waters retained their heat longer than common water, or salt 
water, of the same specific gravity, heated to the same degree : 
indeed, Pliny remarked — " Sunt et Mattiaci in Germania fontes 
calida, quorum liaustus triduo fervet.^^ 

The town of Wiesbaden is evidently one which does not appre- 
ciate the luxury of '- home, sweet home !" for it is built, not for 
itself, but for strangers ; and though most people loudly admire 
the size of the buildings, yet, to my mind, there is something very 
melancholy in seeing houses so much too fine for the style of 
inhabitants to whom they belong. A city of lodging-houses, like 
an army of mercenaries, may to each individual be a profitable 
speculation ; but no brilliant uniform, or external show, can 
secretly compensate for the want of national self- pride which 
glows in the heart of a soldier, standing under his country's 
colors, or in the mind of a man living consistently in his own 
little home. 

About twenty years ago, the inhabitants of Wiesbaden were 
pent up in narrow, dirty streets, surrounded by swampy ditches 
and an old Roman wall. A complete new town has since been 
erected, and accommodation has thus been aflTorded for upwards 



214 BUBBLES. 



of 12,000 strangers, the population of the place, men, women, 
and children included, scarcely amounting to 8000 souls. 

During the gay season, of course all is bustle and delight ; but 
I can conceive nothing less cheerful than such a place must be- 
come, when all its motley visitors having flovv'n away, winter 
begins to look it in the face ; however, certainly the inhabitants 
of Wiesbaden do not seem to view the subject at all in this point 
of view, for they all talk with great pride of their fine new town, 
and strut about their large houses like children wearing men's 
shoes ten times too big for their feet. 

The most striking object at Wiesbaden is a large square, 
bounded on one side by a handsome theatre, on two others by a 
colonnade of shops, and on a third by a very handsome building 
called the Cursaal, an edifice 430 feet in length, having, in front, 
a portico supported by six Ionic columns, above which there is 
inscribed in gold letters — 

FONTIBUS MATTIACIS, MDCCCX. 

On entering the great door, I found myself at once in a saloon, 
or ball-room, 130 feet in length, 60 in breadth, and 50 in height, 
in which there is a gallery supported by 32 marble pillars of the 
Corinthian order ; lustres are suspended from the ceiling, and, in 
niches in the wall, there are twelve white marble statues, which 
were originally intended for Letitia Bonaparte, and which the 
Wiesbaden citizens extol by saying that they cost about 1200/. 

Branching from this great assembly-room, there are several 
smaller apartments, which in England would be called hells, or 
gambling-rooms. 

The back of the Cursaal looks into a sort of parade, upon 
which, after dinner, hundreds of visitors sit in groups, to drink 
cheap cofiee, listen to a band of most excellent, cheap music, and 
admire, instead of swans, an immense number of snail-gobbling 
ducks and ducklings, which, swimming about a pond, shaded by 
weeping willows and acacias, come when they are called, and, 
duck-like, of course eat whatever is thrown to them. 

Beyond this pond, which is within fifty yards of the Cursaal, 
there is a nice shrubbery, particularly pleasing to the stranger 



WIESBADEN. 2] 5 



from the reflection that, at very great trouble, and at considerable 
expense, it has been planted, furnished with benches, and taste- 
fully adorned by the inhabitants of Wiesbaden, for the gratifica- 
tion of their guests. From it a long shady walk, running by the 
side of a stream of water, extends for about two miles, to the 
ruins of the ancient castle of Sonneburg. 

Among the buildings of Wiesbaden, the principal ones, after 
the Cursaal and theatre, are the Schlosschen, containing a public 
library and museum, the hotels of the Four Seasons, the Eagle, 
the Englischen Hof, the Rose, and the Schtitenhof 

The churches are small, and seem adapted in size to the old, 
rather than to the new town. By far the greatest proportion of 
the inhabitants are Protestants, and their place of worship is 
scarcely big enough to hold them. At the southern extremity of 
the town there exists a huge pile of rubbish, with several high 
modern walls in ruins. 

It appears that a few years ago, the Catholics at Wiesbaden 
determined on building a church, which was to vie in magnifi- 
cence with the Cursaal, and other gaudy specimens of the new 
town. 

Eighty thousand florins were accordingly raised by subscrip- 
tion, and the huge edifice was actually finished, the priests were 
shaved, and everything was ready for the celebration of mass, 
when apropos to nothing, " occidit una domus .'" down it came 
thundering to the ground ! 

Whether it was blown up by subterranean heat, or burst by 
the action of frost, — whether it was the foundation, or the fine 
arched roof which gave way, are points which at Wiesbaden are 
still argued with acrimony and eagerness ; and, to this day, men's 
mouths are seen quite full of jagged consonants, as they condemn 
or defend the architect of the building — poor unfortunate Mr. 
Scrumpf ! 

After having made myself acquainted with the geography of 
Wiesbaden, I arose one morning at half-past five o'clock to see 
the visitors drinking the waters. The scene was really an odd 
one. The long parade, at one extremity of which stood smoking 
and fuming the great Koch-brunnen, was seen crowded with 
respectably-dressed people, of both sexes, all walking (like so 



215 BUBBLES. 

many watchmen, carrying lanterns) with glasses in their handsj 
filled, half filled, or quarter filled with the medicine which had 
been delivered to them from the brunnen so scalding hot, that they 
dared not even sip it, as they walked, until they had carried it for 
a considerable time. , 

It requires no little dexterity to advance in this way, without 
spilling one's medicine, to say nothing of scalding or slopping it 
over one's fellow-patients. Every person's eye, therefore, what- 
ever may be the theme of his conversation, was intently fixed 
upon his glass ; some few carried the thing along with elegance, 
but I could not help remarking that the greater proportion of 
people walked with their backs up, and were evidently very little 
at their ease. A band of wind-instruments was playing, and an 
author, a native of Wiesbaden, in describing this scene, has senti- 
mentally exclaimed — " Thousands of glasses are drunk by the 
sound of music! ^^ 

Four or five young people, protected by a railing, are employed 
the whole morning in filling, as fast as they can stoop down to the 
brunnen to do so, the quantities of glasses, which, from hands in 
all directions, are extending towards them ; but so excessively 
hot is the cauldron, that the greater proportion of these glasses 
were, I observed, cracked by it, and several I saw fall to pieces 
when delivered to their owners. Not wishing to appear eccentric, 
which, in this amphibious picture, any one is who walks about the 
parade without a glass of scalding hot water in his hand, I pur- 
chased a goblet, and the first dip it got cracked it from top to 
bottom. 

in describing the taste of the mineral water of Wiesbaden, were 
I to say that, while drinking it, one hears in one's ears the cack- 
ling of hens, and that one sees feathers flying before one's eyes, I 
should certainly grossly exaggerate ; but when I declare that it 
exactly resembles very hot chicken-broth, I only say what 
Dr. Granville said, and what in fact everybody says, and must 
say, respecting it, and certainly I do wonder why the common* 
people should be at the inconvenience of making bad soup, when 
they can get much better from Nature's great stock-pot — the 
Koch-brunnen of Wiesbaden. At all periods of the year, sum- 
mer or winter, the temperature of this broth remains the same ; 



WIESBADEN. 217 



and when one reflects that it has been bubbling out of the ground 
and boiling over, in the very same state, certainly from the time 
of the Romans, and probably from the time of the Flood, it is really 
astonishing to think what a most wonderful apparatus there must 
exist below, what an inexhaustible stock of provisions to ensure 
such an everlasting supply of broth, always formed of exactly 
the same eight or ten ingredients — always salted to exactly the 
same degree, and always served up at exactly the same heat. 

One would think that some of the particles in the recipe would 
be exhausted ; in short, to speak metaphorically, that the chickens 
would at last be boiled to rags, or that the fire would go out for 
want of coals ; but the oftener one reflects on these sort of sub- 
jects, the oftener is the old-fashioned observation forced upon the 
mind, that let a man go where he will, Omnipotence is never from 
his view. 

As, leaning against one of the columns of the arcade under 
which the band was playing, I stood with my medicine in my 
hand, gazing upon the strange groupof people, who, with extended 
glasses, were crowding and huddling round the Koch-brunnen, 
each eagerly trying to catch the eye of the young water-dippers, 
I could not help feeling, as I had felt at Langen-Schwalbach, 
whether it could be possible for any prescription to be equally 
beneficial to such differently made patients. To repeat all the 
disorders which it is said most especially to cure, would be very 
nearly to copy the sad list of ailments to which our creaky frames 
are subject. The inhabitants of Wiesbaden rant, the hotel-keep- 
ers rave, about the virtues of this medicine. Stories are most 
gravely related of people crawling to Wiesbaden and running 
home. In most of the great lodging-houses crutches are tri- 
umphantly displayed, as having belonged to people who left them 
behind. 

It is good, they say, for the stomach — good for the skin — good 
for ladies of all possible shapes and ages — for all sorts and con- 
ditions of men. It lulls pain — therefore it is good, they say, for 
people going out of this wretched world, yet equally good is it, 
they declare, for those whose kind, fond parents earnestly wish 
them to come in. For a head-ache, drink, the innkeepers exclaim, 
at the Koch-brunnen ! For gout in the heels, soak the body, the 



218 BUBBLES. 



doctors say, in the chicken-broth ! — in short, the valetudinarian, 
reclining in bis cari-iage, has scarcely entered the town, than, say 
what he will of himself, the inhabitants will seem to ao-ree in 
repeating — " Bene^ bene respondere, dignus es enirare nostra dodo 
corpore /" 

However, there would be no end in stating what the Wiesbaden 
water is said to be good for ; a much simpler course is to explain, 
that doctors do agree in saying that it is not good for complaints 
where there is any disposition to inflammation or regular fever, 
and that it changes consumption into — death. 

By about seven o'clock, the vast concourse of people who had 
visited the Koch-brunnen had imbibed about as much of the medi- 
cine as they could hold, and accordingly, like swallows, almost 
simultaneously departing, the parade was deserted ; the young 
water-dippers had also retired to rest, and every feature in the pic- 
ture vanished, except the smoking, misty fumes of the water, 
which now, no longer in request, boiled and bubbled by itself, as 
it flowed into the drains by v/hich it eventually reached the 
Rhine. 

The first act of the entertainment being thus over, in about a 
quarter of an hour the second commenced : in short, so soon as 
the visitors, retiring to their rooms, could divest or denude them- 
selves of their garments, 1 sav/ stalking down the long passage of 
my lodging-house one heavy German gentleman after another, 
whose skull-cap, dressing-gown, and slippers plainly indicated that 
he was proceeding to the bath. In a short time, lady after lady, 
in similar dishabille, was seen following the same course. Silence, 
gravity, and incognito, were the order of the day : and though I 
bowed as usual in meeting these undressed people, yet the polite 
rule is, not, as at other moments, to accompany the inclination 
with a gentle smile, but to dilute it with a look which cannot be 
too solemn or too sad. 

There was something to my mind so very novel in bathing in 
broth, that I resolved to try the experiment, particularly as it was 
the only means I had of following the crowd. Accordingly, 
retiring to my room, in a minute or two I also, in my slippers and 
black dressing-gown, was to be seen, staff in hand, mournfully 
walking down the long passage, as slowly and as gravely as if I 



WIESBADEN. 219 



had been in such a procession all my life. An infirm elderl)-- 
lady was just before me — some lighter-sounding footsteps werf 
behind me — but without raising our eyes from the ground, we aV 
moved on just as if we had been corpses gliding or migrating froa 
one churchyard to another. 

After descending a long well-staircase, I came to a door, which 
I no sooner opened, than of its own accord, it slammed after me 
exactly as, five seconds before, it had closed upon the old lady 
who preceded me, and I now^ found myself in an immense build- 
ing, half filled with steam. 

A narrow passage or aisle conducted me down the middle, on 
each side of me there being a series of doors opening into the 
baths, which, to my very great astonishment, I observed, were all 
open at top, being separated from each other by merely a half-inch 
boarded partition, not seven feet high ! 

Into several of these cells there was literally nothing but the 
steam to prevent people in the houses of the opposite side of the 
street from looking — a very tall man in one bath could hardly help 
peeping into the next, and in the roof or loft above the ceiling, there 
were several loop-holes, through which any one might have had 
a bird's-eye view of the v/hole unfledged scene. The arrange- 
ment, or rather want of arrangement, was altogether most astonish- 
ing ; and as I walked down the passage, my first exclamation to 
myself was, " Well, thank Heaven, this would not do in England !" 
To this remark, the Germans would of course say, that low, half- 
inch scantling is quite sufficient among well-bred people, whatever 
coarser protection might be requisite among us rude English ; 
but though this argument may sound triumphant, yet delicacy is 
a subject which is not fit for noisy discussion. Like the bloom 
on fruit, it does not bear touching ; and if people of their own 
accord do not feel that the scene I have described is indelicate, it 
is quite impossible to prove it to them, and therefore " the less 
said is the soonest mended." 

As I was standing in the long passage, occupying myself with 
tlie above reflections, a nice, healthy old woman, opening a door, 
beckoned to me to advance, and accordingly with her I entered 
the little cell. Seeing I was rather infirm, and a stranger, she 
gave me, with two towels, a few necessary instructions, — such as 



220 BUBBLES. 



that I was to remain in the mixture about thirty-five minutes, and 
beneath the fluid to strike with my arms and legs as strenuously 
as possible. 

The door was now closed, and my dressing-gown being care- 
fully hung upon a peg (a situation 1 much envied it), I proceeded, 
considerably against my inclination, to introduce myself to my 
new acquaintance, whose face, or surface, was certainly very 
revolting ; for a white, thick, dirty, greasy scum, exactly resem- 
bling what would be on broth, covered the top of the bath. But 
all this, they say, is exactly as it should be, and, indeed, the 
bathers at Wiesbaden actually insist on its appearance, as it 
proves, they argue, that the bath has not been used by any one 
else. In most places, in ordering a warm bath, it is necessary to 
wait till the water be heated, but at Wiesbaden the springs are so 
exceedingly hot, that the baths are obliged to be filled over-night, 
in order to be cool enough in the morning ; and the dirty scum I 
have mentioned is the required proof that the water has, during 
that time, been undisturbed. 

Resolving not to be bullied by the ugly face of my antagonist, 
I entered my bath, and in a few seconds I lay horizontally, 
calmly soaking, like my neighbors. Generally speaking a dead 
silence prevailed ; occasionally an old man was heard to cough, — 
sometimes a young woman was gently heard to sneeze, — and two 
or three times there was a sudden heavy splash in the cell 
adjoining mine, which proceeded from the leg of a great awkward 
German Frau, kicking, by mistake above, instead of (as I was 
vigorously doing) beneath the fluid. Every sigh that escaped 
was heard, and whenever a patient extricated him or herself from 
the mess, one could hear puffing and rubbing as clearly as if one 
had been assisting at the operation. 

In the same mournful succession in which they had arrived, 
the bathers, in due time, ascended, one after another, to their 
rooms, where they were now permitted to eat — what they had 
certainly well enough earned — their breakfast. As soon as mine 
was concluded, I voted it necessary to clean my head, for from 
certain white particles which float throughout the bath, as thickly 
as, and indeed very much resembling, the mica in granite, 
I found that my hair was in a sickly state, in which I did not feel 



WIESBADEN. 221 



disposed it should remain. I ought, however, most explicitly to 
state, that the operation I here imposed upon myself was an act 
of eccentricity, forming no part of the regular system of the 
Wiesbaden bathers — indeed, I should say that the art of cleaning 
the hair is not anywhere much encouraged among the Germans, 
who, perhaps with reason, rather pride themselves in despising any 
sort of occupation or accomplishment which can at all be called — ■ 
superficial. 

Before I quit the subject of bathing, I may as well at once 
observe, that one of my principal reasons for selecting the apart- 
ments I occupied at the Englischen Hof was, that the window of 
my sitting-room looked into the horse-bath, which was immediately 
beneath them. Three or four times a-day horses, lame or chest- 
foundered, were brought to this spot. As the water was hot, the 
animals, on first being led into it, seemed much frightened, 
splashing, and violently pawing with their fore feet as if to cool it, 
but becoming at last more accustomed to the strange sensation, they 
very quickly seemed exceedingly to enjoy it. Their bodies being 
entirely covered, the halter was then tied to a post, and they 
were thus left to soak for half or three-quarters of an hour. The 
heat seemed to heighten the circulation of their blood, and nothing 
could look more animated than their heads, as, peeping out of the 
hot fluid, they shook their dripping manes and snorted at every 
carriage, and horse, which they heard passing. 

The price paid for each bathing of each horse is eighteen 
kreuzers, and this trifling fact always appeared to me to be the 
most satisfactory proof I could meet with of the curative proper- 
ties of the Wiesbaden baths : for though it is, of course, the in- 
terest of the inhabitants to insist on their efficacy, yet the poor 
peasant would never, I think, continue for a fortnight to pay 
sixpence a-day, unless he knew, by experience of some sort or 
other, that his animal would really derive benefit. 

One must not, however, carry the moral too far, for even if it 
be admitted that these baths cure horses' strains and other effects 
of over-work, it does not follow that they are to be equally bene- 
ficial in gout, and other human complaints, which we all know 
are the effects of under-work, or want of exercise. 

For more than half an hour I had been indolently watching 



BUBBLES. 



this amplnbicu.:i •K:eKe, ^v>6a \ht landlord entering my room said, 

that the Eussian ^rinc^ G n svished to speak to me on some 

busintsi.-; an^^ the infoimation was scarcely communicated, when 
I pe/ceiytd Lis Highribss standing at the threshold of my door. 
With the at^eni^on due lo his rank, } instantly begged he would do 
me the honor tc walk in ; and, after we had sufficiently bowed to 
each other, and I had prevailed upon my guest to sit down, I 
gravely requested him, as I stood before him, to bo so good as to 
state in what way I could have the good fortune to render him 
any service. The Prince very briefly replied, that he had called 
upon me, considering that I was the person in tbe hotel best 
capable (he politely inclined his head) of informing him by v/hat 
route it would be most advisable for him to proceed to I^ondon, it 
being his wish to visit my country. 

In order at once to solve this very simple problem, I silently 
unfolded and spread out upon the table my map of Europe ; and 
each of us, as we leant over it, placing a fore-finger on or near 
Wiesbaden — (our eyes being fixed upon Dover) — we remained 
in this reflecting attitude for some seconds, until the. Prince's 
finger first solemnly began to trace its route. In doing this I 
observed that his Highness's hand kept swerving far into the 
Netherlands; so, gently pulling it by the thumb towards Paris, I 
used as much force as I thought decorous, to induce it to advance 
in a straight *line ; however, finding my efibrts' ineffectual, sud- 
denly letting it go, I ventured, with respectful astonishment, to 
ask, "^ Why travel by so uninteresting a route ?" 

The Prince at once acknowledged that the road I had recom- 
mended would, by visiting Paris, aflbrd him the greatest pleasure, 
but he frankly told me that no Russian, not even a personage of 
his rank, could enter that capital without first obtaining a written 
permission from the Emperor ! ! ! 

These words were no sooner uttered than I felt my fluent 
. civility suddenly begin to coagulate ; the attention I paid my 
guest became forced and unnatural — I was no longer at my ease ; 
and though I bowed, strained, and endeavo^-ed to be, if possible, 
more respectful than ever, yet I really could hardly prevent my 
lips from muttering aloud that I had sooner die a homely English 
peasant than live to be a Russian Prince ! In short, his Highness's 



WIESBADEN. 223 



words acted upon my mind like thunder upon beer ; and, m.ore- 
over, I could almost have sworn that I was an old lean wolf, con- 
temptuously observing a bald ring rubbed b}^ the collar upon the 
neclc of a sleek, well-fed mastiff dog : however, recovering my- 
self, I managed to give as much information as it was in my 
humble powder to afford, and my noble guest then taking his 
departure, I returned to my open window, to give vent in solitude 
(as I gazed on the horse-bath) to my own reflections upon the 
subject. * • 

Although the petty rule of my life has been never to trouble 
myself about v/hat the w^orld calls " politics" — (a fine word, by- 
the-by, much easier expressed than understood)-— yet, I m.ust 
own, I am always l)appy when I see a nation enjoying itself, and 
melancholy when I observe any large body of people suffering 
pain or imprisonmnent. But of all sorts of imprisonment, that of 
the mind is, to my taste, the most cruel : and, therefore, when I 
consider over what immense dominions the Emperor of Russia 
presides, and how he governs, I cannot help sympathizing most 
sincerely with those innocent sufferers who have the misfortune 
to be born his subjects ; for if a Russian Prince be not freely per- 
mitted to go to Paris, in what a melancholy state of slavery and 
debasement must exist the minds of what we call the lower 
classes ? 

As a sovereign remedy for this lamentable political disorder, 
many very sensible people in England prescribe, I know, that v/e 
ought to have recourse to arms. I must confess, however, it 
seems to me that one of the greatest political errors England 
could commit would be to declare, or to join in declaring w^ar 
against Russia ; in short, that an appeal to brute force would, at 
this moment, be at once most unscientifically to stop an immense 
moral engine, which, if left to its work, is quite powerful enough, 
without bloodshed, to gain for humanity, at no expense at all, its 
object. The individual who is, I conceive, to overthrow the 
Em.peror of Russia — who is to direct his own legions against 
himself — who is to do what Napoleon at the head of his Great 
Army failed to effect, is the little child, who, lighted by the single 
wick of a small lamp, sits at this moment perched above the gnat 
steam-press of our '• Penny Magazine," feeding it, from morning 



1^24 BUBBLES. 



till night, with blank paper, which, at almost every pulsation of 
the engine, comes out stamped on both sides with engravings, and 
with pages of plain, useful, harmless knowledge, which, by 
making the lower orders acquainted with foreign lands, foreign 
productions — various states of society, &;c., tend practically to 
inculcate " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace — good 
will towards men." It has already been stated, that what pro- 
ceeds from this press is now greedily devoured by the people of 
Europe ; indeed, even at Berlin, we know it can hardly be 
reprinted fast enough. 

This child, then, — " this sweet little cherub that sits up aloft," 
is the only army that an enlightened country like ours should, I 
humbly think, deign to oppose to one who reignfe in darkness — 
who trembles at daylight, and whose throne rests upon ignorance 
and despotism. Compare this mild, peaceful, intellectual policy, 
with the dreadful, savage alternative of going to war, and the 
difference must surely be evident to every one. In the former 
case, we calmly enjoy, first of all, the pleasing reflection, that 
our country is generously imparting to the nations of Europe the 
blessings she is tranquilly deriving from the purification and 
civilisation of her own mind ; — far from wishing to exterminate, 
we are gradually illuminating, the Russian peasant — we are 
mildly throwing a gleam of light upon the fetters of the Russian 
Prince ; and surely every well-disposed person must see, that, if 
we will only have patience, the result of this noble, temperate 
conduct must produce all that reasonable beings can desire. 
But, on the other hand, if we appeal to arms — if, losing our tem- 
per and our head, we endeavor (as the bear is taught to dance) 
to civilize the Emperor of Russia by hard blows, we instantly 
consolidate all the tottering elements of his dominions ; we give 
life, energy, and loyalty to his army ; we avert the thoughts of 
his princes from their own dishonor ; we inflame the passions, 
instead of awakening the sober judgment of his subjects, and 
thus throwing away both our fulcrum and our lever, by resorting 
to main strength, we raise the savage not only to a level with 
ourselves, but actually make ourselves decidedly his inferior ; 
for Napoleon's history ought surely sufficiently to instruct us, 
that the weapons of this northern Prince of Darkness — (his climate 



WIESBADEN. 225 



and his legions) — even if we had an army, we ought not, in pru- 
dence, to attack ; but the fact is, our pacific policy has been to 
try to exist without an army, — in the opinion of all military men 
we have even disarmed ourselves too much, and, in this situation, 
suddenly to change our system, and without arms or armor to 
attack one who is almost invulnerable, would be most irrationally 
to paralyze our own political machinery. 

If, by its moral assistance, we wisely intend, under the blessings 
of Heaven, to govern and be governed, we surely ought not from 
anger to desert its standard ; and, on the other hand, it must be 
equally evident that before we determine on civilizing the Emperor 
of Russia, by trying the barbarous experiment of whether his 
troops or ours can, without shrinking, eat most lead, it would be 
prudent to create an army, as well as funds able to maintain it ; 
for — 

" Beware 
Of entrance to a quarrel ; but, being in 
Bear it, that the opposer may beware of thee !" 



Being desirous to observe the way in which a Sunday evening 
was passed in Germany, at seven o'clock on that day I followed 
a crowd of people into the theatre, and found the house so full, 
that I had great difficulty in obtaining a seat. The performance 
was a complete surprise to me, for though ages ago, when I was 
young, I had been in the habit of regularly attending for years 
together, an Italian theatre, yet never having before witnessed a 
German opera, I did not know it was possible so completely to 
adapt the sounds of music to every varying thought and senti- 
ment in a play : in short, the words of the play, and the notes of 
the orchestra, were as nearly as possible fac-similes of each 
other ; demi-semi-quavers, crotchets, and minims being made 
most ingeniously to mimic, not only exclamations, but marks of 
admiration, notes of interrogation, colons, and fiill stops. 

The musical emphasis which accompanied every line through- 
out the piece, while it merely astonished me, seemed to be most 
scientifically appreciated by the audience, whose countenances of 



226 BUBBLES. 



severe attention were very remarkable ; no interruption, however, 
of any sort took place, their feelings of approbation or censure 
being equally mute. In the various departments of the perform- 
ance, a great deal of natural talent was displayed, and whether 
one attended to the music — to the style of acting — to the scenery 
— or even to a dish of devils, which made their appearance, most 
strangely garnished with toads, bats, serpents, and nondescript- 
beings, one could not help admitting that, in spite of its torpor, 
there must exist a considerable quantity of latent genius, imagina- 
tion, and taste in the audience itself; indeed, there can be no 
fairer criterion of the mental character of any country, than its 
own national spectacles, which are, of course, and must be, made 
to correspond with, and suit, the palates of those who support them. 
It is true that that mimic Fashion will occasionally introduce into 
a country foreign habits not suited to its climate. For instance, 
of our own fine London opera, Italians say, that without calling 
upon the English audience itself to sing, their behavior quite 
clearly proves that they have no real taste for — that they are not 
capable of relishing — the foreign musical luxury which by the 
power of money they have purchased : in short, they accuse us 
of listening, when we ought to be coughing — of talking to each 
other, when we ought to be breathless from attention — and of 
most barbarously throwing the light of the theatre upon ourselves 
instead of on the performers — thus showing that we prefer looking 
at tiers af red soft cheeks and rows of white pearly teeth, to 
listening to the chaste, simple melody of music. But whether 
these foreign remarks respecting an Italian performance be true 
or not, in our own element, in our own English theatres, the accu- 
sation of want of taste does not hold good. The admirers of 
Shakspeare, Siddons, Kemble, Kean, O'Neil, &c., cannot com- 
plain that the writings of the one, or the acting of the others, have 
not reached the hearts of those to whom they have been directed; 
in short, without sympathetic talent throughout the country, those 
names could never have reached the respective eminences on 
which they stand, and thus, though they do honor to the country, 
the country can also claim honor from them. 

Remarking to a person who sat next to me, that the Duke of 
Nassau's box, in the theatre, was empty, he informed me, to my 



WIESBADEN. 227 



very great astonishment, that his Highness had just left his own 
dominions, and had gone to Hanover, to b^^the in the sea!!! 
In short, while tlie world was flocking to swallow and wallow in 
the waters of Nassau, its noble prince was wandering for the same 
purpose towards the distant briny waves of the ocean — but, as 
Mathews says — " Such is life, and such is man ! like the lobster in 
hoili7ig water — restless and never satisfied ! '^ 

When the pleasing performance I had been witnessing was at 
an end, on coming in the open air, I found it was raining. Like 
myself, most people were without umbrellas ; the rain, however, 
seemed to have no effect upon the tide of human bodies that 
flowed en masse towards the Cursaal, which, ready lighted up, 
was waiting for the disgorging of the theatre. On entering the 
great door, each person was required to pay a florin, and as the 
large room was rapidly very nearly filled, the band struck up, and 
dancing most vigorously began. T could now scarcely believe my 
eyes, that the performers, so awkwardly attempting to be active 
before me, were the identical people whose passive good taste and 
genius I had, with so much pleasure, been admiring ; for with a 
more awkward, clumsy, inelegant set of dancers I certainly never 
before had found myself in society. Not only was the execution 
of their steps violently bad, but their whole style of dancing was 
of a texture as coarse as dowlas, and most especially, in their 
mode of waltzing, there was a repetition of sharp, vulgar jerks 
which it was painfully disagreeable to witness. Leaving, there- 
fore, these dull, heavy tetotums to spin out the evening in their 
own way, I quitted the great room ; but no sooner did I enter the 
smaller dens, than I found that I had fallen from the frying-pan 
into the fire, for these "hells" were literally swarming with 
inhabitants. In each chamber an immense solitary lamp (having 
a circular reflector) hung over the green cloth table, round which, 
male and female gamesters, of all ages, were bending, with horrid 
features of anxiety ; and as the powerful rancid oil light shone 
upon their ill-favored countenances, I could not help with abhor- 
rence leaning backwards, at seeing a group of fellow-creatures 
huddled together for such a base, low-minded object. In passing 
through the chambers of this infernal region, I found one worse, 
if possible, than the other. Under each lamp, there were, here 



228 BUBBLES. 



and there, contrasted with young nibblers, individual counte- 
nances, of habitual gamesters, which, as objects of detestation, 
many a painter, or rather scene-painter, would have been exceed- 
ingly anxious to sketch ; but I was so completely disgusted with 
the whole thing, that as quickly as my staff and two legs would 
carry me, swinging the other arm, I took my departure. 

In hastily worming my way through the ball-room, I saw there 
no reason for changing my opinion ; and when I got into the fresh, 
cool, open air, though 1 was fully sensible I had not spent my 
Sunday evening exactly as I ought to have done, yet, in the 
course of my very long life, I think I never felt more practically 
disposed to repeat, as in England we are, thank Heaven, still 
taught to do — 

^'K^m^mb^r tl)at tijon kcc^ Ijolg ti)c Qabbati) mag/' 



THE END. 








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